


A Whisper Away

by kontraklarinette



Series: Time’s Blight [2]
Category: The Owl House (Cartoon)
Genre: Amity Needs To Make Up Her Dang Mind, Angst, Dancing, Everyone Needs A Hug, F/F, Future Fic, Happy Ending, Minor Character Death, Minor Violence, Mystery, Not Really Character Death, Older Characters, Reunions, Sharing a Bed, Time Travel, briefly, one (1) minor oc for like. a little bit, poor luz:(, sequel to Rectification
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-23
Updated: 2021-01-31
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:02:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 19
Words: 54,434
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27683966
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kontraklarinette/pseuds/kontraklarinette
Summary: Four long years have passed since Amity cast the time spell that changed the course of her relationship with Luz forever. Now eighteen, Luz returns to the Boiling Isles, but her reunion with Amity doesn’t go the way she expects. Something is horribly wrong- and it’s up to her to uncover the mysteries of Amity’s past before fatal secrets- and Belos’ terrifying regime- catch up to them both.
Relationships: Amity Blight & Emira Blight, Amity Blight/Luz Noceda, Edric Blight & Emira Blight & Luz Noceda
Series: Time’s Blight [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2023397
Comments: 141
Kudos: 230





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> did rectification need a sequel? no:) am i writing one anyway? yea:)<3 it probably won’t be as long as rectification bc i just don’t have the material but i’m aiming for about half the length
> 
> this https://youtu.be/metdOn9BxXM is the song that gave me the idea for this story
> 
> anyway this takes place immediately after the epilogue of rectification, and if you haven’t read that, this will probably not make a lot of sense sorry

After a moment, Luz began to tap her foot impatiently on the ground.

Was  _ anything _ going to happen?

The inside of the shack had been glowing for a good few minutes now. The magical energy that surrounded the area was still making her skin tingle, but as she waited, a new realization was dawning on her- perhaps this energy had nothing to do with the Isles after all. Maybe it was a random occurrence that was merely a result of Eda’s portal being used there for years, rendering this particular spot a concentrated pool of magic leaked in from the Isles.

Her heart sank.

_I feel so stupid._ _Of course there was no hope that I would ever…_

She was about to turn her feet and head back to her house- back to finish all the packing she still hadn’t done- when the light suddenly died down and silence sank over the forest.

Luz’s breath caught in her throat as someone stepped through the door of the shack. 

When the witch caught sight of Luz, her hand flew instantly to her mouth, and Luz could see nervous fire in her eyes. “Luz,” she gasped. 

Luz swooped in to wrap the witch in a ferocious hug. “Eda! I can’t believe you’re here!” she cried. “I thought I’d never-”

“Shh.” Eda pulled away from the embrace and pressed her finger to her lips. “There’s no time. You have to come back with me before one of the guards finds the portal.”

Luz narrowed her eyes. “What?”

“If I don’t close the portal, I’ll get found out. We need to hurry.”

“Is there something wrong? Can’t I just be happy to see you?”

“In a moment.” Eda wrapped her hand around Luz’s wrist and dragged her back to the shack. Luz winced. Even after four years, the old witch’s ferocity hadn’t dwindled.

Every nerve on her skin buzzed as soon as they crossed over. She could instantly feel the magic flowing back into her limbs, and she longed to scrawl down some glyphs and create a light show for the entire Isles to see, a visual of the joy that erupted in her heart. She’d missed this feeling of power in her fingertips. She’d  _ craved  _ it while she’d been stuck in her own realm- and now she could finally have it again. But why- why was Eda acting like this? Had something gone wrong in her old home?

She found herself in a familiar forest. The sky had darkened to an ominous gray, and the whistling wind in the trees seemed almost sinister. The whole place felt very… off, but despite that, nostalgia hit her when she glimpsed the autumn-lavender leaves over the canopy of the woods. A deep pang of longing shot through her chest. “Eda,” she called over the wind, “how’s Amity?”

Eda snorted. “She was doing just fine the last I saw her.”

Suddenly they stopped. Eda dragged Luz behind the trunk of a wide tree, whispering harshly at her to be quiet. Bewildered, Luz peered around the edge of the trunk. A humanoid, beaked shadow was cast on the forest floor, and she could hear footsteps crunching on the leaves- footsteps that were growing louder. She froze in terror.

A breeze whispered past her face and the low growling voice reached her ears. Her heart was thumping so loud she was afraid the stranger might hear it. Eda’s grip on her arm tightened as if she was afraid the human would try to flee.

“I thought I saw a flash around here, but I guess it was nothing,” the voice reported.

Another set of footsteps stopped besides the first. “Of course it wasn’t. You’ve called more false alarms just this week than I’ve captured prisoners, Mattholomule.” 

“Thanks for the vote of confidence.”

“I’m just saying, I’m not totally sure that you’re cut out for this,” the second voice chided. It struck Luz that this voice was chillingly familiar, but she couldn’t place who it reminded her of. She could’ve sworn she’d heard the high-pitched, pretentious lilt somewhere else, and yet… 

“And you are?” retorted Mattholomule. “You wanted to be a professional Grudgby player not even a year ago, Boscha.”

Luz slapped a hand over her mouth to keep from screeching aloud. 

“I didn’t have a choice. You know I never wanted to join this stupid Coven,” snapped Boscha.

“The Emperor knows what he’s doing.”

Boscha sniffed disdainfully. “I guess.”

As soon as her former classmates had wandered away, still grumbling, Luz whirled to face Eda. “What’s happened since I’ve been here?” she hissed. “Belos is still in power? I used to go to Hexside with those two! Are they in the Emperor’s Coven now? What’s going on here, Eda?”

“Shut up,” Eda growled. “I’ll explain later. We need to get to the house before those goons come back. If they find us, we’re dead.  _ Both _ of us.”

Luz was about to protest, but before she could open her mouth, she was on her feet, being dragged blindly through the trees.

After a moment, Eda skidded to a halt in a wide, open clearing. Luz nearly toppled forward at the change in momentum, but she steadied herself and glanced at the other witch. “Where are we?”

“Look around,” Eda said dryly. “Don’t you recognize this place?”

At first, Luz  _ didn’t  _ recognize it. But as she took in more of it, observing her new surroundings- she knew exactly where she was. The cliff on one side, the sea on the other… she drew in a sharp breath of shock. This was her  _ home. _ “The Owl House! It’s gone!”  _ Something horrible has definitely happened here, _ she thought frantically.

“Not quite.” Eda laughed, a wry smirk creeping across her features. Drawing a quill and a piece of parchment out of the pocket in her dress- which Luz noted looked far more ragged and disheveled than it had four years ago- she began to sketch a glyph. 

Luz watched over her shoulder. The combination of swoops and lines were much more complicated than any glyph she was used to doing.  _ Eda must have made a lot of advancements with this kind of magic while I was away,  _ she realized, unsure whether she was proud or jealous that her former mentor was still able to practice magic at all. 

When Eda tapped the glyph’s center, what appeared to be an invisible shield fell away from the center of the clearing. Luz saw the top spire of the house first, followed by the signature stained glass eye, what used to be her bedroom window, and at last, the front door. 

“Woah,” Luz breathed. She hadn’t known glyph magic could do anything like that.

“Yeah, that one took me a while to get the hang of,” Eda said bluntly. “Now, come on. We don’t have all day. We’ve got to get inside.” She started toward the house and jerked her hand for Luz to follow.

Luz expected Eda to snark at Hooty like she usually did when she arrived home, but as the two witches entered the house, neither Owl Lady nor owl demon said a word. Hooty watched Eda with large blank eyes as she went inside, and as Luz passed, he watched her too, his glazed-over brown gaze betraying nothing.

She shivered.

Something was amiss here.

“Welcome home,” Eda sighed, and only then did Luz notice how tired the Owl Lady sounded. She could sense that Eda may have been worn down a little by the passing years, but the more she thought about it- the forest’s strange atmosphere, the urgency with which she’d been led to the Owl House, the fact that the house was now  _ hidden- _ she knew that something was going on here, and it was costing Eda. It had nothing to do with age. There was danger on the Boiling Isles, and Eda was using a lot of her strength to protect herself. 

“What’s going on here?” asked Luz.

At first, Eda ignored her. “You can stay in your room upstairs again, if you want. I tried to move Lilith up there after you left, but she’s insistent on using the couch instead. I don’t know how anyone can bear to sleep on a couch for four years, but go figure. Whatever makes her comfortable.”

Luz nodded, but her mind was elsewhere. “You promised you’d explain.”

Eda sighed. “I guess I did,” she admitted begrudgingly. “But I don’t really want to. It’s a lot, and you’re…”

Luz took a seat on the living room couch. “I’ll be okay. Come tell me what’s going on. Why are there Emperor’s guards in the woods? Why was the house invisible? Why were we hurrying? You’ve never run from a captor you couldn’t see.”

Eda lowered herself to sit beside Luz, albeit a bit hesitant. “Are you sure you want to hear the story?”

“Positive.”

“Okay.” Eda took a deep breath. The words didn’t seem to want to come to her at first, but she eventually steadied herself. “A few weeks after you left,” she began, “Belos flew into a- a sort of rage. Nobody really knew what he was going on about. We all just thought he was being insane and unreasonable, you know, like he always is. He began to double down on ‘practitioners of wild magic.’ He insisted that he’d sensed someone cast a dangerous and illegal spell, and he swore to find them and have them petrified. He never found who they were. Lily and I were sure that he was imagining things in his old age.” She laughed, but there was no humor in her voice. “It was all fun and games for a while, but then… things began to change. And not for the better.”

Luz leaned in closer. Her mind was whirring. Illegal magic? And Belos had never caught the culprit? Did this have something to do with…?

_ Amity…  _

“The first thing that happened was that another search party was sent for Lily and I. I suppose that it would make sense that we would have the most likely connection with witches who were doing illegal magic- though I wonder if he was really just out for us. This was right around the time I perfected the invisibility glyph with the help of your friend, Augustus. Remember him?”

Relief washed through Luz. “So he’s okay?” At least that was  _ one _ friend accounted for.

“I’m… not sure how he’s doing now,” Eda admitted. “I think he went into hiding. He quit school, so he’s on the run just like I am. The kid’s talented, though. His illusion magic keeps him safe.”

“That’s… good?” Luz didn’t want  _ any  _ of her friends to be wanted criminals. She’d lived with Eda long enough to recognize how much stress that kind of life could put on a witch, and imagining her friends going through those hardships nearly sent her into a frenzy.

Eda seemed to sense Luz’s growing concern. “Anyway. The witch-hunt continued for another year, and things started getting really crazy. About two years ago, Belos changed the policies regarding entrance into the Emperor’s Coven. He’d pick random graduating seniors to join and then post them all over the Isles, telling them to search for  _ rulebreakers. _ You can’t go anywhere these days without seeing those losers literally everywhere. It’s exhausting. I’ve had to rely on the Blight twins to do my grocery shopping for me, since they’re the best Illusionists I know. Plus, I’d be petrified before I even set half a foot in town.”

Luz perked up. Edric and Emira were still doing alright… and if they were, then Amity must be too. Perhaps she still lived somewhere nearby.  _ She must have graduated by now, right? _ “The Blights? They’re okay? Does that mean Amity is okay too?”

“Hang on, I haven’t finished the story yet.” Maybe Luz was imagining it, but she could have sworn she saw a flash of fear in Eda’s eyes. A pit of uneasiness grew in her stomach. Eda wasn’t hiding anything… right? If something had happened to Amity, surely Eda would just tell her. 

“Eda…” she ventured. “Amity is okay. Right?”

“Let me finish the story first.”

“But-”

“Amity’s fine. I’ll tell you  _ after  _ the story.” 

“Alright?”  _ I guess that reassurance is better than none. _

Eda heaved a sigh. “About a year ago, Belos revamped the coven system completely, and that’s when things really began to go downhill around here. Instead of letting kids choose which coven they would join when they graduated school, he decided that a witch’s coven would be randomly decided for them at birth, and that they’d study only that track for their entire school career. I don’t know what exactly happened, but… that decision seemed to suck all of the individuality out of the Isles. Now we’ve got a bunch of school kids with no passion or talent whatsoever for what they’re doing. If I thought covens themselves were bad, covens without choice are even worse!” Eda spat. “And all that’s on top of getting interrogated by an Emperor’s Guard every other step. This isn’t the Boiling Isles it used to be.”

“Wow,” whispered Luz.  _ I can’t bear to think that this might be my fault…  _ “Can you tell me about Amity now?”

Eda eyed Luz warily. “You want to know the truth?”

“Yes.” Luz’s heart sped up.  _ Not really. Stars, let her be okay. I miss her so much. _

“Okay. Honestly…” Eda blinked once at Luz as if she expected the human to change her mind. Luz said nothing. “To be totally honest, I haven’t seen her in months. Last time I saw her, she was just fine, but that was at the end of the spring, and now it’s…”

“September.” Luz’s mouth suddenly felt dry. Her mind leapt instantly to another conclusion, but trying to choke her new suspicious out was more difficult than trying to summon magic straight from her heart. “Did Amity…”

Eda shook her head. She knew what Luz was going to say, even if Luz couldn’t bring herself to say it. “I would have heard if she’d joined the Emperor’s Coven.”   
“What about Ed and Em? Have you asked them?”

“The twins haven’t seen Amity any more recently than I have.”

“Her parents?” Luz knew she was grasping at straws here, but she couldn’t bear the thought of not knowing where Amity was. Yearning for her former girlfriend swamped her, and she felt dizzy. She didn’t know it was possible to miss a person this much.

“Her parents cut ties with all three of them as soon as Em and Ed were eighteen,” Eda replied. “I’m really sorry, kid. I don’t know what happened to Amity.”

Luz gripped the arm of the couch until her nails broke through the felt. “Then why’d you bring me here? Just to break my heart? To tell me that the girl I  _ thought  _ I loved has gone missing and that nobody’s seen her for months?”

“No!” Eda recoiled a bit as if Luz’s remark stung. “I brought you back because the Isles need you, Luz. You have to put this right.”

“Why me? I’m the one who caused the problem in the first place.  _ I’m  _ the wild witch that Belos is searching for. You shouldn’t even want me here. I’ll just screw everything up!”

Shock dawned on Eda’s features. “You? How in the Titan’s name do you figure you’ve done illegal magic?”

“It’s a really long story, but basically I screwed around with a time spell.” Unwilling to retell everything- as long as Amity was somewhere out there, her whereabouts unknown, Luz considered doing anything but searching for her a waste of time- she didn’t elaborate further. 

“I’m sorry. You did  _ time magic?” _

She ignored Eda’s growing franticity. “So did Amity. I need to make sure that she’s okay. I’ll save the Isles later, but- but need to save Amity first.”

Before Eda could get a word in edgewise, Luz leapt from the couch, crossed the room, and stormed out of the Owl House, slamming the door shut behind her and letting the noise echo throughout the place she’d once called home.


	2. Chapter 2

_ Okay, maybe I shouldn’t have stormed out without making a plan.  _

Luz frowned as she ducked through the woods. She figured she’d try to sneak her way into downtown Bonesborough without being noticed, but the closer she got, the more she realized that might be a bit of a challenge. She’d pressed herself against a tree next to an entrance, intending to wait until the two guards standing there were gone, but several minutes had passed, and they remained unflinching. Luz tried her best to squash her frustration. She’d die of old age out here far before she’d have a chance to find Amity.

_ Amity. _ Even thinking about her made Luz’s heart flood with determination. So what if she had to wait? She was waiting for Amity, and Amity would always be worth it.

Maybe Amity was in town right now, and in a few minutes she’d walk nonchalantly past the guards at the entrance. Luz pictured her former girlfriend’s bright golden eyes finding her own, joy spreading across her features, and launching herself into Luz’s arms. If she thought hard enough about it, she could almost feel their embrace now.

_We could_ _be together again…_

Luz banished the thought from her mind.

_ She’d want that, wouldn’t she? _

_ What if she’s already found somebody else? _

_ She wouldn’t. _ A memory flashed in Luz’s mind.  _ I was falling in love with you, remember? _ That’s what Amity had said to her, her voice pinched and tearful, as stone had crawled up their backs, caught in the stares of the entire world. Surely she’d keep her promise.

But then again, they had been fourteen. They were young and stupid. Luz hadn’t loved anyone since Amity, but her mom had always told her that whatever she felt as a young teenager wasn’t love, it was mere hormonal infatuation.

But if Luz hadn’t loved Amity, why hadn’t she ever stopped thinking about her?

She knew there was something there. Something that would plague her until she found Amity again. 

Her grip on the bark of the tree tightened as she continued watching the guards. They weren’t budging. They weren’t saying anything, either, they only stood, still as the stone statues in the dungeon of the Emperor’s Castle. Luz suppressed a groan. How long must she wait?

She let her eyes trail over the Bonesborough skyline. From outside, it seemed that the town proper was the one thing here that hadn’t changed. Blight Manor still sat atop its hill overlooking the other buildings- Luz made a mental note to stop there first once she’d made it inside- and she could see Hexside across from it, its stone spires jutting proudly into the air. For a moment she allowed herself to indulge in nostalgia for her days as a Banshee. She truly did miss all of it- the screaming bell, the classes (interesting or otherwise), the magical food served in the cafeteria. So many vivid memories. Most of all, she remembered her two fights with Grom, the beautiful dances she’d shared with Amity, and, less positively, the fire that had ravaged Hexside during her entrance exam and nearly claimed her life.

_ The Hexside fire…  _

An idea began to take shape in Luz’s mind.

Sparing the guards a quick glance to make sure they weren’t looking in her direction, she reached up and snapped a twig off a lower branch of the tree. The twig was sharp where she’d broken it and surprisingly sturdy. She jabbed it into the soft trunk of the tree and, careful not to break it, began to crave a glyph. A spark of thrill ignited in her- it’d been so long since she was able to cast a working spell. When she was done, she stepped back and admired her handiwork.  _ Perfect. _

The guards were still unaware of her presence, so she drew one hand back and slammed it into the tree. The entire trunk burst into flames. Grinning with satisfaction, Luz ducked away under the cover of fire and headed for the Bonesborough entrance. Just as she’d expected, the guards stationed there were now sprinting for the burning tree. She strained her ears. They yelled something about  _ those damn rogue witches, _ and she almost laughed. With nobody watching her, she skirted the welcome sign and found herself in the busy downtown area.

She surveyed the streets. Nothing here actually looked  _ too  _ different than she remembered. Today must have been market day- a fact she deducted from the stalls lining the road, manned by demons and witches loudly peddling products ranging from clothing to “magical mystery potions” to fried Slitherbeast tongue (supposedly a delicacy). It all seemed completely normal at first- until she realized that for every four or five normally dressed shoppers, there was one witch swathed in dark robes and sporting the beaked mask that signified a member of the Emperor’s Coven. 

_ Sweet stars. Eda wasn’t kidding. _

A lanky reptilian witch Luz didn’t recognize met her gaze from across the path. She shivered. For a moment she’d forgotten that some of the Isles’ citizens might recognize her- after all, she’d put herself on live CV in an act of rebellion against the petrification of the most notorious witch on the whole island. She knew that she looked different now, having grown her hair out to about her shoulders and covering her round ears, as well as having a build that wasn’t so lanky-teenager-esque, but perhaps it wouldn’t be too hard for some of them to know who she was. Maybe they knew about her time spell. Maybe she was just as much of a wanted criminal now as Eda was. She wished she could meet Gus or one of the Blight twins to help illusion her into unfamiliarity, but she swore to herself she’d find Amity first.

For now she’d just have to take her chances.

Blight Manor was still in sight, and she continued carefully toward it. With every step she was consciously aware of the guards watching her. She sent a silent prayer to the sky that she’d changed enough in four years to be unrecognizable. (One thing she knew for sure, though, was that she still hadn’t lost her baby face… which probably wouldn’t end up playing to her advantage.)

When Luz finally reached the gates to the manor, they were shut tight. She let out a huff of frustration. She began to wish she’d brought paper and a pen with her- she hadn’t guessed she’d need to use magic just to navigate Bonesborough. To improvise, she sketched an ice glyph in the dirt and impaled the padlock with a sharp spear of ice.

She was in.

As she crept up to the manor, her nerves began to catch up with her. Eda had said that the Blight parents no longer spoke to their children, so unless Edric or Emira had become head of the family, she’d have no luck getting a lead on Amity here. If she was seen by the Blight parents- well, that’d certainly send her straight to the Emperor. Odalia and Alador Blight were no fans of hers. When they learned four years ago that she was dating their daughter, they’d been furious. 

She stopped at the wide, ornate front doors. She hesitated for a moment. She couldn’t just  _ knock. _ Without knowing who was inside, that would a suicide mission.

She spotted a row of low windows along the side of the house, and she grinned to herself. Bingo. They were obscured by curtains, so she couldn’t see inside, but perhaps she could  _ hear _ . The manor was huge, though. It was unlikely that someone would be standing in whatever room this was spewing conveniently plot-important details about Amity’s whereabouts, but she wasn’t sure what else to try. 

The glass was too thick for her to hear anything when she pressed her ear against it. Fortunately, however, the morning was still young and dew coated the glass. Dew that was perfect for drawing glyphs in. So, she created a fireball and melted a hole in the glass just large enough to channel any voices from inside through to her.

For a moment, everything was silent. She strained her ears. Surely there had to be someone in there. She could at least figure out who it was and whether it was safe to knock on the door or not.

After a few moments, a voice wafted through the window. Luz stiffened, determined to concentrate. She didn’t want to miss a thing.

“...heard she was coming in from western Hexico this afternoon,” the voice was saying. “No, she didn’t say when. But you know how she is with scheduling, so don’t expect her for a few hours.” It wasn’t Amity’s voice, but it was strikingly familiar. Once again, though, Luz couldn’t quite place it. She pressed herself closer against the glass.  _ Who’s coming? _

“How’d she get away?” asked another. This one was deeper, and strange, but yet… 

“Beats me,” muttered the first voice. “If it was that easy, I’m sure there would be a lot more guards leaving their posts.”

“How’d you contact her, anyway?”

“With my scroll.” 

There was a pause before the other responded. “But owning a scroll’s been illegal for years. How’d you get service?”

“She enchanted it.” The first voice sounded proud. “I didn’t know bard magic could do that, but she’s done it. You’ll have to get used to doing illegal things while you’re living here, by the way. You run from the law, you disobey the law as frequently as possible.”

So the visitor these people were expecting was a bard. But they were in the Emperor’s Coven, too… maybe they’d studied bard magic at school and had been one of the unlucky seniors Eda had told her about. Luz racked her brain, but she didn’t remember being close to any bards while she’d been here. Maybe she didn’t know the visitor. Maybe she didn’t know these people, either. She felt a pang of discouragement, but she wasn’t ready to give up yet. 

“Please. It’s like you’ve forgotten who I am, baby sister. I broke rules with you all the time when we were kids.”

“I am  _ not  _ your baby sister,” the first voice replied sharply. “And sneaking into the library or cutting class a few times doesn’t count. That’s baby stuff compared to what Viney, Willow, and I do.”

_ Viney and Willow! _ Luz’s heart soared. She’d hit the jackpot. Her friends were here. And all this talk about sneaking around… these two had to be the Blight twins. Her friends were  _ okay _ . And if Ed and Em didn’t know where Amity was, Viney and Willow might.

It occurred to her that Eda probably would have told her where the Blight twins were if only she’d thought to ask.  _ Oh well. A little adventure never hurt anyone. _

She tore herself away from the window and made a beeline for the front door. She couldn’t knock quickly enough. With each sharp rap on the door she became more and more nervous that the twins wouldn’t answer. “Come on, come on…” she hissed under her breath. 

At last, the door swung open, and she was greeted by a very shocked-looking Emira Blight. Emira inhaled sharply when she realized who was standing in front of her. “Luz!” she gasped. “It’s- it’s really you! It is, isn’t it?” She called over her shoulder. “Guys! You won’t believe this! It’s Luz the human!”

Emira didn’t look that different than she had four years ago. Now twenty, she’d kept the thin, lanky frame of her teenage self, and her long green hair was still tied back in its signature braid. Now she looked more delighted than Luz had ever seen her.

Three shapes appeared behind her. Luz recognized Edric and Viney… and was that  _ Willow? _

“Come in, come in,” Emira urged her. “Wow, I can’t believe you’re here. When you left all those years ago I was sure we’d seen the last of you.”

Luz swallowed. “I couldn’t stay away.” Was she going to have to explain the time spell to them too?  _ Hey, just so you know, your sister and I broke the law and now the Emperor’s after us! But ha ha, it’s okay, because Eda spewed some very out-of-character prophetic stuff about destiny, so it’ll be fine! _

“Yeah, well, you came at the worst possible time.”

Luz followed her and the others into the foyer of the manor. “I talked to Eda,” she admitted. “She thinks I’m supposed to save the Isles from Belos.”

“Ha!” Emira barked a laugh. “Since when was Eda into all that prophetic-destiny stuff?”

“I’ve been asking myself the same thing.”

“Sit down.” They reached the living room- or more likely,  _ a  _ living room, judging by the size of the house. Emira nodded to a wide velvet couch that sat in front of a crystalline coffee table whose legs were shaped like script  _ B _ s. Doing as she was told, Luz glanced around at the others, who were taking seats in other chairs around the room. Emira plopped down next to Luz. “You’ve got a lot to tell us, human!”

“I…” Luz trailed off. It was so strange, to be sitting here among these people who she’d considered friends in what felt like another lifetime. Edric looked just as eager to hear Luz’s story as his sister did, while Viney watched her with a carefully guarded expression. Willow gazed at her with narrowed eyes. Out of all four of them, she had visibly changed the most. Her hair was cut into a short pixie cut, and she’d lost her glasses. She wore a sleeveless gray tunic and Luz could clearly see muscles in her crossed arms.

“Can’t I say hello to everyone first?” she asked awkwardly.

Emira’s gaze softened. “Oh, of course you want to. It has been a while.”

“I am absolutely beyond thrilled that you decided to finally show up,” Edric put in.

“I came as fast as I could! The portal-”

“It really is you, isn’t it?” Viney interrupted. “You’re not… you’re not an illusion?”

Luz blinked. “Why would I be an illusion?”

“There have been… rumors,” Ed said slowly. “Belos-”

“I don’t know what you’re about to say, but that sounds horrifying.”

“Everything’s been awful since you left,” Viney confessed. “Recreational magic isn’t allowed anymore. Belos is completely off his rocker- he won’t shut up about finding every wild witch and destroying them forever.”

“If anything, there are more wild witches now than there were  _ before _ ,” Edric added. He rolled his eyes. “The new coven system is ridiculous. More and more witches are refusing to join covens and going into hiding.”

“Is that what you guys are doing?”

Emira nodded. 

“And your parents…” Luz hesitated. She knew the topic of the Blight parents could be a touchy subject. 

“We rightfully bested them in a duel,” bragged Emira. “I’m the head of the Blight family now. Of course, I turned this place into a shelter. The four of us have lived here together for two years. We’re making it work.”

The only person who had not yet spoken was Willow. She stared impassively on, her dark gaze betraying nothing. 

Luz cleared her throat. “That’s good. And Willow…” she ventured, hoping to break her friend’s steely silence. Outside of Amity, Willow had been Luz’s best friend on the Isles, and she’d missed her just as ferociously. 

Willow visibly clenched her jaw, but her expression quickly crumpled. “Oh, Luz,” she sighed. She stood and crossed the room, lowering herself into Luz’s arms. “I thought I’d never see you again,” she whispered into Luz’s shoulder. “I was so worried.”

“I could never leave you behind,” Luz reassured her. She rested her hand firmly on Willow’s back “Any of you.” A few tears sprang to the back of her eyelids. “It’s relieving to be home.”

Willow pulled away. “Even if Eda only brought you back because she thinks you’re destined to save us all?”

“Even if.” Luz chuckled.

Willow gave a small nod and went back to her own chair.

“Okay, now that that’s all taken care of,” Emira said dismissively, “will you please tell us what’s new with you?”

“Sure. But first you have to tell me everything you know about where Amity might be.” Luz ached to get straight to the point. “Please.”

Emira exchanged a look with Edric. For a heartbeat, Luz’s breath caught in her throat. That couldn’t be good. 

“The last time we saw her…” Emira began.

“It was just after she graduated in March,” continued Edric. “We’d been crashing in the Owl House for a while since Mom and Dad didn’t want us around them anymore. We sent her out shopping for us, and she just… never came back.”

Suddenly Luz was choking on air. “No,” she breathed.

Emira shook her head. 

“You really have no idea what happened to her?” Luz looked to Viney, then Willow, and the sadness in their eyes told her everything she needed to know. “Do you think she’s…” She couldn’t finish the sentence. She didn’t want to hear the answer.

“She’s not dead,” Edric said bluntly. Emira shot him a glare. “What?”

“What Edric is trying to say is that we feel like we’d be able to sense if Amity was… no longer with us,” Emira told her. “We’ve always shared a special bond with Mittens. We would know if something had happened to her. It would feel like a piece of ourselves went missing.”

Luz’s heart warmed at the mention of Amity’s old nickname. “You really think she’s out there?”

“Somewhere,” Emira murmured.

“I need to find her.” She shot to her feet. “I’ll be back, I promise,” she added as she started towards the door. “I’ll tell you everything as soon as Amity is safely with me.”

“But I wanna know about the human realm!” Edric wailed. Luz didn’t hear him, though- she was out the front door faster than they could blink.

~

Sneaking around downtown Bonesborough still felt odd. Before today, she’d never had to sneak around here. She owned her status as the demon realm’s only human, but now, she knew she could be put to death for it.

As soon as she’d entered town again she realized how hungry she was. Regretfully, she hadn’t thought to borrow any snails from Eda before she’d stormed away, so she resorted to her old mentor’s tried and true method- pickpocketing. 

Her first two victims were easy enough to fool. She decided to try her luck in one of the town’s shadier restaurants, where she was sure she wasn’t the only person trying to steal. Most occupants of this particular establishment were far too preoccupied with the game of Hexes Hold-em they had spread across the tabletop to pay any mind to the nearly six-foot-tall human creeping up behind them, so she nabbed a few snails without any trouble.

Her third target, though, was a different story. 

The witch was bent over a table, picking at a plate of something indiscernibly edible, lost in thought. Luz crept up behind her, slowly extending her arm, aiming for the purse that was slung around the witch’s shoulders and hung at her side. Her heart pounded. She was so close… just a few more inches… 

The witch swiveled around and leapt to her feet. Luz jumped up instinctively as well, and she immediately noticed that she had a good few inches on her if it came to a fight. She didn’t want to fight with someone who was fully trained, but since she’d been caught, she-

She froze. 

A pair of golden eyes stared at her, bright and hard as steel. Hazel hair fell down the witch’s shoulders, about halfway down her back, and was tied at the top in a half ponytail. She held herself rigidly, but there was an element of pride in the slope of her shoulders.

Luz found herself rooted to the spot.

There was no mistaking the girl standing in front of her.

“Luz,” the witch said tersely.

“Amity,” Luz choked out. “It’s really- it’s really you. You’re alive. You’re here. You’re  _ okay.” _

She’d found her. She’d found Amity.    
At last, they’d been reunited. All the worrying, the nights she’d spent wondering- they could be over now. They were together again, like they were meant to be.

So why were Amity’s eyes blazing with fury?


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> for those of u who said that finding amity was way too rushed to be realistic: yeah ur right but also i need to get to the main story or the pacing will be thrown off, and also, at the end of the day i’m a bored teenager writing fanfiction for the gay owl cartoon with a demographic of elementary schoolers and. yeah

“...Amity?” Luz ventured again, quieter this time. “It’s me. Luz.”

Amity looked Luz up and down, her glare scrutinizing. “I know.”

Suddenly, Luz wanted to shrink into herself and disappear. Why was Amity looking at her like that? Wasn’t she happy to see her? Didn’t she remember how they parted, teary-eyed, in the petrification cage, whispering promises to each other that they would always remember the time they’d spent together?

Maybe Luz needed to try a different tactic. “I’m so glad you’re okay. Edric and Emira said-”

Amity cut her off with a wave of her hand. “I don’t care what Edric and Emira said. They have no involvement in my life anymore.” What she said next felt like a physical blow that shattered Luz’s heart into a million tiny shards. “And neither do you.”

Luz could do nothing but stare back incredulously. “What?” 

Amity’s voice grew soft. “Things are different now, Luz. I know you must be glad that you’re back. And I’m glad for you. But we’ve gone our separate ways now. Don’t you see?” She extended her arms, gesturing to their surroundings. “This isn’t your kind of place. Stop stealing from people and go back to your magic training. Go back to Eda.”

“This isn’t your kind of place, either,” Luz pointed out. On the other side of the room a demon playing Hexes Hold’em roared, tucked its paws under the table, and flung it upside down. She winced. “I know you. Amity. You’re talented. You’re ambitious. You deserve more than shady diners in the backwaters of Bonesborough. What about your dream? You wanted to be in the Emperor’s Coven more than anything!”

Amity scowled. Slapping a few snails down on the table, she abandoned her food and headed for the door. “You must still have some of that fire smoke in your brain,” she muttered as she passed Luz.

Determined resolve settled into Luz’s chest. Maybe Amity wasn’t going to make this easy for her, but she couldn’t give up yet. But then again, she hadn’t expected straight-up hostility from Amity when they inevitably reunited. Bewilderment, maybe, but the  _ good _ kind, the oh-my-stars-I-can’t-believe-you’re-back-kind, not… whatever this was. Nevertheless, she tagged after Amity as she pushed through the diner’s wooden doors. “You remember the fire?”

“I remember everything.” She shot Luz a look. “Now please stop following me. I’m a traveller now, Luz. Finding me here today was just dumb luck. I never wanted to come back here, but I had to stay the night somewhere. In any case, I’m leaving.  _ Now. _ ”

“But I need to talk to you about something.” This may not have been the Amity that Luz remembered, but she was still Amity, and as hard as Luz tried, she couldn’t banish the caring in her heart for her old girlfriend. She had to warn Amity that she was being hunted. She reached her hand out and brushed Amity’s wrist, but Amity jerked her arm away. 

“Stop!” she snapped. “I told you, Luz. Things have changed. We don’t… there’s nothing here anymore.”

“You have to listen,” Luz insisted. 

Amity raised an eyebrow. “If I listen, will you leave me alone?”

_ No. _ “Yes,” she lied.

“Fine.” Amity’s posture deflated, and she beckoned for Luz to follow her down a quiet, shadowed alley between two buildings. “I’m assuming that whatever it is, you want to tell me in private.”

Luz nodded. “Yeah.” She halted, and Amity stopped with her.

Amity tilted her head up to look at Luz. Under any other circumstance, Luz would have found it hilarious how much taller she was than Amity now. But at the same time, she felt like she was looking at a stranger. She’d once known those golden eyes so well, but now… 

“So?” Amity said impatiently.

Luz shook her head. “Right, uh. You remember the time spell, right? The one we both unknowingly cast?”

“How could I ever forget.”

“Well…” Luz trailed off. If Amity wasn’t already angry at her, she’d certainly be angry now. “I think that might be the reason the Isles is… like this now. You know, when Belos totally lost it. Going on about wild witches and such. I think that might be about you.”

Amity snorted with amusement. “Yeah, no kidding.”

“And I think- huh?”

“What do you think I’ve been doing these past four years? Just happily running around, joining the Emperor’s Coven, or… or, whatever it is people are supposed to do?” Her tone dripped with poison. “Of course Belos is after me. He’s probably after you too. You also cast the spell, after all. And then  _ neglected  _ to tell me.”

Luz bristled. “So did you!”

“I didn’t think I  _ had _ to!”

“Why’d you go through all the trouble, then?” Luz frantically searched for words, her newfound fury at Amity threatening to bubble over. “Why cast the spell, and… and come back for me if you were just going to turn your back on me as soon as I  _ did _ have to go home?”

“You left. Of course I was bound to move on.”

Luz clenched her fists at her sides. “You think I had a choice?”

Amity shrugged. “You came back through once.”

“I-” Luz stopped. She spent a moment fighting back tears, hoping her face was obscured enough in the shadow of the alley that Amity wouldn’t be able to tell. “It’s a lot more complicated than that, Amity,” she said shakily.

Amity’s eyes flashed with malice. “I’m running for my life because of you.”

“You brought this upon yourself.”

“If you’d never come here, I never would have needed to cast the spell in the first place.”

Seized by anger, Luz reached and gripped the front of Amity’s cowl. “So you’re telling me that you wish you’d never met me at all?”

Amity remained unfazed. She lifted her chin, a challenge in her stare. “I suppose I am.”

Luz released Amity and stumbled back. “How could you say that?” she shrieked. Fury was now rushing through her whole body, and her fingers tingled with constrained magic. If she’d been a natural-born witch, she might have unleashed a burst of her anger on Amity right that moment. She suddenly didn’t recognize the girl standing in front of her. This wasn’t the person she’d loved as a kid, this was a  _ coward. _ “We went through so much together! We fought together, and… and we almost died together! Are you really throwing all of that away for… for…” she stammered. “I don’t even know why you’re being like this! Any reasonable person would at least  _ acknowledge _ our history.”

At last Amity looked away. “If you’d stayed here instead of just abandoning us, you’d understand.”

“I never wanted to abandon you. I promise you that.” 

“But you did anyway.”

Finding her footing, Luz took another step closer to Amity. “I’m not going anywhere until you explain to me what’s going on.”  _ I care about you too much,  _ she added silently, but she couldn’t bring herself to say it out loud.

Amity said nothing. After a heartbeat of silence, she extended her arm out in front of her. At first Luz thought she was pointing at something, but when she turned, she saw nothing out of the ordinary other than a bustling downtown street and the wide, gray sky. Then a small shape appeared on the distant horizon. It grew larger, and before she knew it, something whizzed past her, stirring a small gust of wind.

Then her knees buckled and she found herself frozen on the dirty alley ground. She stretched her jaws wide to cry out, but no noise came. She started to panic. What had Amity done? All her muscles had gone stiff, rendering her paralyzed, unable to cry for help or crawl away.

Amity approached her warily and crouched in front of her. In her hand, she held a long, white staff. On its head sat a small wooden cat, its tail curved majestically behind its back, its ears tapering to two delicate points. Even the palisman seemed to be watching Luz with hostility, and she could have sworn she saw its whiskers twitch.

Only now did she notice the long scar that stretched from Amity’s ear down to her jaw. The witch looked hardened on the outside as well as the inside. Amidst her anger, she felt an unexpected flash of pity. What had Amity gone through in the past few years that had changed her so much?

Amity leaned in so close that Luz could see every freckle on her pale skin. “I. Owe. You.  _ Nothing.” _

Something brushed the bottom of Luz’s chin. Amity had brought her palisman to Luz’s face, and was gently tilting it up. Luz tried to meet Amity’s eyes levelly, but blood roared in her ears, and she feared she might start to cry. 

For a moment, neither girl said anything. But then Amity moved her staff away. When she stood up, the stiffness in Luz’s muscles eased, and she crumpled to the ground, rough pavement scratching her palms. 

Without a word, Amity turned and left, leaving Luz feeling like a hole had been torn straight through the center of her heart.

~

She did her best to blink the tears out of her eyes when she rang the Blight Manor doorbell twenty minutes later. She knew she’d have to explain her findings to the house’s inhabitants, but nevertheless, she held onto the scrap of hope that she could hide the emotional effects the confrontation had had on her.

Judging by the concern on Emira’s face when she opened the door, though, that was not the case. Emira guided her inside gently, keeping one hand on her back in a gesture of comfort as they headed to the living room. The other three were already on the couch, heads bent together in quiet conversation. They looked up when Luz and Emira entered, and when their expressions morphed into ones of sympathy, a fresh wave of tears hit the back of Luz’s eyes. Viney scooted over to make room for the other two. Luz sat between her and Willow. Surrounded by her friends, her heart felt almost a little bit lighter.

_ Almost.  _ Try as she might, anguish still overpowered every other emotion.

“You didn’t find her, did you?” Edric asked. Emira shoved her elbow into his side and he nearly doubled over.

Luz shook her head.

Viney raised a quizzical eyebrow. “You did?”

Drawing in a shuddering breath, she forced herself to nod. “I did. And that’s the problem.”

“She is okay, isn’t she?” murmured Emira.

“She seemed… fine. Physically.”

“What’s the problem, then?”

“She’s… she’s not Amity!” With this, Luz bent over and buried her face in her hands. For a quiet minute, she shook with sobs. Normally, she’d be embarrassed to be such a loud crier, but she was too distraught for that particular issue to weigh at all heavily in her mind. She felt Willow place a reassuring hand on her arm, and she relaxed enough to summon the will to speak again.

“I don’t know what happened to her,” she sniffed, and brushed a stray tear from the corner of her eye. “She was angry when she saw me. She said… she said I had no place in her life anymore.” She decided to leave the reveal that the twins had been part of that declaration out, at least for now. “She told me to leave her alone. That whatever there was between us in the past… that there’s nothing there now.” Her shoulders drooped. “She’s not herself anymore. The way she talked to me… it wasn’t just an effect of the passage of time. Something happened to her while I was gone. Something horrible.”

Emira’s eyes glowed with sorrow. “Did you get any information about what she’s up to these days? What coven she’s in? Where she’s living?”  _ Why did she disappear without telling us? _ was the silent question that hung in the air. “And how did we miss her if she’s been in town this whole time?”

“She said she’s a traveller. She was getting ready to leave town when I found her.”

“A traveller,” Viney mused. “So a wild witch. Like us. I never would have guessed that Amity of all people would refuse to join a coven.”

“I can’t believe it either,” Edric said. “I’m so proud of her.”

“Ed, shut up,” hissed Emira. “Luz is sad.”

Willow softly nudged Luz. “What are you going to do?” 

“I don’t know,” Luz admitted. “But I have to do something.” Once again a wave of grief swamped her, and it took all she had to keep herself from breaking. “Eda brought me here so I could… defeat Belos, I guess, but I can’t bring myself to do that until I’ve tried my hardest to help Amity. And I can’t help her until I know what happened to her. And she sure as hell isn’t going to tell me.”

“Isn’t it strange,” Willow sighed. “Here you are, trying to befriend Amity again just like you did when we were kids. You’re right back when you started.”

“Except it’s twenty times harder, because she sounds like she would actually kill you this time,” Ed offered helpfully.

Luz ignored his facetious remark. Gears were turning in her head, and she tuned everything else out, letting her thoughts whir.  _ Back where I started… back where I started…  _ she shook her head.  _ No, it’s too risky. _

“You look like you’re getting an idea,” prompted Emira.

_ It’s far too risky. But if Amity isn’t going to tell me what’s wrong with her herself…  _

“I am,” Luz admitted. “I’m not sure I’ll go through with it. It’s a dangerous idea. I guess you guys deserve to know- but I have to tell you a story first…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> me, typing furiously: luz don’t do it don’t do it don’t do it u absolute idiot 
> 
> ALSO i’m so sorry i forgot to mention this before but this chapter is, as usual, betad by my incredible partner in crime/fanfiction, elderon! pls go read her beta lumity fic <333


	4. Chapter 4

When Luz finished telling the story, she looked around to see that each of her friends’ jaws had dropped.hey all stared at her with bewilderment etched across their features.

Willow drew in a sharp breath. “You’re a time traveler?”

The twins exchanged a dubious glance. “Amity is a time traveller?” Emira asked.

“I didn’t even think time travel was possible,” Edric agreed.

If the situation hadn’t been what it was, Luz would have laughed. “Em and Ed, believe it or not, this is actually the third time you’ve realized that time magic is real.”

Edric put his hands up as if someone had accused him. “I’ve never heard of time magic in my life. I swear.”

“You haven’t heard of it here,” Luz corrected. “But in another life…”

The more she thought about it, the more the plan began to take on a definite form in her mind. Sure, it was beyond dangerous to use time magic in a world where she’d be hunted down and petrified for it, but what other choice did she have? The sense of despair and loss that sat in her chest was agonizing. She couldn’t let it fester. Moreover, she couldn’t let Amity continue to roam the Isles alone, heart weighed down with hate, reeling from what had to be some sort of severe trauma.

_I’m her only hope. I'm the Isles’ last hope._

Viney cleared her throat. “So you’re telling me that you want to go back and time and try to figure out what happened to Amity to… change her so much.”

“Feel free to let me know if you can think of a better idea.”

“I don’t want to come off as rude,” Emira interrupted, “but maybe we should try first… oh, I don’t know… talking to her and sorting things out peacefully?”

“I already tried.” Luz attempted to keep the mental image of Amity’s fiery, furious gaze at bay. “She won’t listen to reason.”

“Maybe she’ll listen to me if I go talk to her.”

Viney snorted. “She’s been avoiding you for months. What makes you think she’d listen to you now?”

“Sorry, but I have to agree with Viney on this one,” Willow put in apologetically. 

Edric nodded. “And don’t forget that we’re all kind of… I don’t know, wanted criminals now. We should stay out of public affairs that would pull unwanted attention towards us as much as possible.”

“C’mon, we do Eda’s grocery shopping every week and nobody bats an eyelash.” Emira’s voice grew desperate. “This is our Mittens, Ed. We have to try. We’ve been wondering for forever where she is, and now we have an answer.”

Willow frowned. “Won’t she have left town by now?” 

“Not if we hurry.”

“But we don’t even know where she’s headed!”

“Hmm, let’s see. If I were a wild witch who was on the run and wanted to make sure nobody saw me as I left Bonesborough, which way would I go?” Emira tapped her chin thoughtfully. “Ah, of course. Maybe through the dark and uninhabited woods rarely patrolled by guards? Seems logical to me!”

“I guess that’d be a good starting point,” muttered Willow.

And if we find her in the woods… maybe I can… Luz gave a quick nod. “That’s a good idea.” She stood, filled with something that might have almost been renewed hope. “If we go fast, we can still reach her.”

She started for the door, but Willow called after her. “Wait!”

Luz paused.

“I don’t want to come off as rude, but…” Willow hesitated. “If Amity already reacted horribly to seeing you, maybe you shouldn’t go this time. Maybe this is something Em and Ed should do alone.” She looked down at the ground. “I’m sorry.”

“But-” Luz began to protest, but when she realized that neither twin was speaking up for her, she admitted to herself that this wasn’t a battle she should fight. She sighed in defeat. Maybe Willow was right- after all, the twins were Amity’s siblings. Luz was just… an old friend. Edric and Emira had every right to speak with Amity alone. “Alright. We’ll stay behind.”

Suddenly Edric brightened. “I have an idea!” he exclaimed. 

His sister groaned in response.

“Maybe it’ll be less likely that we get information out of her if she can see you there,” he went on enthusiastically. “But what if she can’t see you?”

“Are you suggested she hide behind a tree?” Viney asked. 

Edric shook his head. “Look.” He drew a spell circle in the air that matched Luz’s height. A beam of light shot toward her, but before she could process what was happening, it was gone, and all her nerves were left buzzing.

Willow furrowed her brow. “Luz? Where’d she go?”

“I’m right-” Luz stopped. Willow wasn’t the only one looking at her curiously- Viney looked befuddled as well, and Emira had put her head in her hands with exasperation. Luz glanced down at her feet. At least, she looked where she assumed they would be- but they were gone. All of her was gone. She didn’t even know when she blinked.

She fixed her stare on Edric, not that he’d be able to tell. “You cast an invisibility spell on me?”

He shrugged. “Yeah? Now you can go with us to find Amity.”

“I guess…”

“Doesn’t that seem a little… I don’t know… like an invasion of privacy?” Emira protested. “Mittens doesn’t want Luz there.”

Luz raised an eyebrow (at least, she assumed she did). “Well, it’s either this or I go back in time and invade her privacy further. Besides, you’ll tell me everything she says either way, won’t you? Look,” she went on when Emira opened her mouth to protest, “I don’t want to prod around in Amity’s business any more than you do, but we literally have no other option. I need to help her. And she isn’t going to tell me how to do that.”

Emira remained hesitant for a moment but then her shoulders slumped and she gave a sigh of defeat. “Okay, fine. If you insist. You can come.”

Edric’s gaze brightened. “Perfect.”

With the argument finally coming to a resolution, she noticed Willow’s ears twitch in annoyance. “Then we’d better go now. Once Amity gets out of the city limits, we’ll have no idea where to find her.”

“We have no idea where to find her now,” Viney pointed out.

“I think we have a pretty good lead.”

“Maybe just the twins and I should go,” Luz said hastily. “We don’t want to antagonize Amity more than I… more than I already have.”

“I’m her friend,” Willow replied bitterly.

“I know, but I think she’s more likely to listen to the twins-- I mean, I was her girlfriend, and look how she reacted to seeing me again.”

“You also weren’t here for four years.”

“Which is why it’s more important than ever that I be there for her.”

Willow chuckled. “You know, I’ve really missed having you around, Luz. You’re such a breath of fresh air.”

The tightness in Luz’s heart eased slightly at her friend’s compliment. “Thanks.”

“We’d better be going,” Emira interjected. She glanced out the tall glass window that sat on one wall of the living room. The sun was rising high in the sky, a few beams shooting through the thick layer of clouds and illuminating the downtown area overlooked by the manor. “It’s almost noon- prime time for guard activity. If we want to reach the woods without getting caught, we’ve got to do it now.”

Luz nodded. She was practically itching to get up and go. Every heartbeat that passed was a heartbeat that found Amity a cold shell of the girl she’d once been. “Why don’t you just cast invisibility spells on yourself?” she suggested. “That way we can take the quickest route.”

“Invisibility spells are hard, even for skilled illusionists like us.” She thought she could detect a note of pride in Edric’s voice. “We’d better save the rest of our energy for any potential… unsatisfactory confrontations.”

A shiver raced down her spine. Please, stars, let it never come to that. “Then let’s head out. The sooner this is all figured out, the better.”

~

It was a bit tricky to slip through the town without being seen, but, being invisible, it was easy for Luz to distract any Emperor’s Guards they ran across. A couple of loud footsteps behind the guards stationed at the exit closest to the cliff and they’d run off to investigate, leaving their posts abandoned and allowing the twins a split second to slip by unseen. They’d told Luz that when they ran errands for Eda, they used illusions to disguise themselves as different people, but when Edric had cast the invisibility spell on Luz it had zapped a good amount of their shared magical energy.

The forest was much quieter now, and, with the slowly dissipating clouds allowing the sun to shine through the canopy, much more familiar. Luz tried to not let the bittersweetness of it all weigh too heavily on her. With the Grom tree visible over all the others, though, it was near impossible. The twins continued on determinedly.

“She’s here,” Emira whispered. “I can feel it.”

They pressed on. Luz didn’t know how the twins could sense Amity’s proximity, but the idea of seeing her again made her heart skip a nervous beat. She hoped they were right.

Eventually, they entered a clearing situated on the clifftop that overlooked the Skeletal Sea. The Grom tree, twice as tall as Luz had last seen it, was only a few yards away, and the noon sun flashed across the lavender-tinted water. This place, unlike the rest of the Isles, was just as serene as she had left it. It didn’t seem at all like a place Amity would be interested in visiting anymore. But despite Luz’s doubts- and just as the twins had predicted- Amity was here, crouched cross-legged just next to the edge.

She hadn’t seen them yet. 

Emira beckoned to Edric to follow her. “We should approach her from the side,” she whispered.

Luz nodded- not that they could see. She knew firsthand what a bad idea it was to go up to Amity from the back. The twins straightened their posture to appear more confident, and approached their little sister as non-threateningly as possible.

Luz exhaled heavily. This was it.

When the twins got near, Amity lifted her head to stare warily at them. Now, her golden eyes seemed dull, lacking the fire they’d held earlier that morning. She didn’t say anything when Edric and Emira sat down on either side of her, but she did pull her knees closer to her chest.

“Hey, Mittens,” Edric greeted her awkwardly.

Amity stared silently out at the horizon.

“Long time no see,” Emira added.

“Don’t call me that,” Amity replied gruffly after a beat of silence.

Edric shifted a bit closer to her, and she curled further into herself. “We’ve missed you.”

“I’ve been busy.”

“We’re living at Blight Manor now. You should come visit us sometime.”

Amity shrugged. “I’ve got things to do.”

“It’s just…” Emira sighed. “When you disappeared a couple of months ago we thought we’d never see you again. Did you get into the Emperor’s Coven like you wanted? You’re so talented. I’m sure they would have loved to have you.”

“They would love to have me, alright.” Amity’s tone was bitter. “Have me in their dungeon. Please. It’s only been four months, you know that. Besides, I’m sure Luz told you all about what I’ve been up to. She’s probably hiding behind a tree right now, listening to everything I’m saying.”

With every monotone response that Amity supplied, the gears in Luz’s head continued to turn. Even this version of Amity was different than the last two she’d known. She seemed withdrawn here, almost scared. She was so far away from the gentle and studious Amity of the past and yet almost as far from the furious, vengeful witch Luz had met that morning. She was still cold and withdrawn, but she wasn’t angry at them.

_It’s almost like her issue is… specifically with me._

Edric scoffed. “Luz? What, no, we haven’t seen Luz! Who ever said we’ve seen Luz? She’s in the human realm, remember?”

“Look,” Amity sighed. She pulled her knees to her chest and rested her chin on them. “We’ve gone in different directions now. You’re my siblings, and I’ll always love you, but things aren’t the same as they were the last time you saw me. I have my life, and you have yours. If you’re here to get information about what I've been doing, you won’t find any.” She stood and brushed the grass off her knees. “Good luck with… whatever.” 

She paused for a brief moment besides where Luz stood invisible. Luz held her breath, fearful that even the slightest disturbance of the air around them would alert Amity to her presence. But Amity moved on quickly, and as soon as she was out of earshot Luz bounded up to the twins.

“I hate that you were right, Luz,” muttered Edric. He waved a finger and the invisibility spell faded away. “She does want nothing to do with us.”

“She didn’t even let us say anything before she got up and walked away!” Emira complained. 

“Well, I learned one thing,” Luz said.

“What?”

“This definitely isn’t just her personality changing. She has an issue with me. Something happened to her- something so horrible that she forced herself to turn her back on me. And I’m going to find out what it is.”

She took a deep breath. 

_I don’t want to do this. But Amity, you leave me no choice._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey folks! User Elderon here! You might know me as kontra's faithful editor- and today I am their faithful uploader. Kontra unfortunately dropped her phone into a river and until their new one arrives updates will likely be very slow(the new phone is arriving in ~3 weeks). Thank you all for understanding!!  
> If you guys would be so inclined, I'm sure she would love to see ur comments 🥺 if u can and would like to any positive commentary would be greatly appreciated !! Good day loves<333


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sike I got a temporary phone and made a new personal email so I could post myself. Once again big shoutout to my beta elderon for posting the last chapter and who against all odds (and also finals stress) finished this chapter in a timely matter. Love u :)
> 
> Plus according to my stats with this chapter I have officially the reached 100k words of toh fanfic. Go figure

“I know what I have to do,” Luz announced.

The twins glanced at each other once, then at Luz, leading her to suspect that the invisibility spell was beginning to wear off. Maybe they’d been lucky that Amity had run away so quickly. “You mean you’re actually going through with it?” asked Emira.

“I don’t think I have a choice. There’s one slight problem, though-”

“Look, maybe this is a bad idea,” Edric broke in. “Maybe we should just let Mittens be.”

Luz stopped mid-sentence, instantly forgetting what she was going to say. “What?”

Emira shrugged. “Ed’s right. She seems perfectly content with her life now. And if that doesn’t include us- it shouldn’t matter. Our duty as her siblings is to support her no matter what. And if that means she doesn’t want to talk to us anymore, then so be it.”

“We’ll never stop loving her. But this is her decision,” Emira agreed.

Luz, though stunned by the twins’ maturity- a maturity they'd never shown the last time she’d seen them- felt her blood boil at their indifference. This was their baby sister they were talking about! “You guys aren’t concerned for her at all?”

“Of course we’re concerned!” Edric argued. “But she can make her own choices. She’s an adult now.”

“Barely.”  _ I’m only a few months from nineteen but I barely feel like I’ve left middle school.  _

Emira nodded. “Personally, if I were you, I wouldn’t cast this time spell. You’ve meddled with time once and look where it got you.”

Luz looked down at the ground and stewed.

“But of course, we can’t stop you. If that’s really what you think is right, we’ll help you in any way you can.”

She looked back up. “Of course that’s what I think is right,” she declared.

“We were afraid you’d say that,” Edric sighed.

“Yeah, for a moment I thought reverse psychology would work,” joked Emira.

Luz held up a hand to silence them. “But you’re right about me needing your help. I accidentally… well, I might have made a  _ teeny _ tiny oversight while I was considering the idea.”

Both twins raised an eyebrow at her.

“The Rectification spell- the time spell that Amity and I used- it won’t work for this. It-”

“Why not?” Edric interrupted.

Luz pushed down the bubble of frustration rising in her stomach. “If you’d just let me finish, you might find out. Anyway, when you cast the spell, you have to think about a specific moment in time- and the spell puts you back exactly where you were down to the second. You can’t just deposit yourself anywhere.”

“Ohh,” Emira said. “I see.”

“I wasn’t in the Isles when Amity- you know. So I can’t send myself back to watch her.” Only now did it dawn on Luz how hopeless this endeavor would be.  _ Argh. _ Time magic was so  _ stupid. _ Unless she could somehow discover a way to sneak into the public library’s restricted section (which she was sure would be near impossible with all the guards out and about now), find a time spell that conveniently fit all her criteria (that was of course assuming that Belos hadn’t banned books that contained references to time magic) and send herself back close enough to the time of Amity’s… change- and not after it- that she wouldn’t be standing around for months waiting for the inciting incident.

Oh boy.

Still, this was for Amity.  _ I won’t give up until I’ve tried absolutely everything, _ she vowed to herself. “Is anyone up for a trip to the library?”

The two stared at her in dumbfounded silence for a moment. “Yeah, about that…” Edric sighed. He nudged his sister in the ribs. “You tell her,” he hissed under his breath.

Emira elbowed him back. “No,  _ you _ tell her.”

Luz shook her head and pinched the bridge of her nose. Maybe there were  _ some _ things about the twins that had never changed. 

They continued to bicker to one another under their breath for a moment longer. Eventually Luz interrupted them herself, her impatience with them- and the clawing need to find a way to get back into the past- threatening to overwhelm her. “Okay, I know there’s a reason we can’t get to the library,” she said, “so why don’t you just tell me?”

The twins’ argument ceased. Emira punched Edric’s shoulder. “You do it.”

“Ow.” Edric flinched and rubbed his shoulder. “That hurt. Fine. Luz- libraries were kinda, sorta…”

“Banned two years ago,” Emira finished. “Sorry.”

“See, look,” grumbled Edric, “ _ you _ did the hard part anyways.”

“Banned?” Luz cried. She groaned, leaning against the tree she stood next to and covering her face with her hands. She supposed she should have seen it coming. In a scandal involving time magic, it would make sense for Belos to ban libraries, since that’d been where both Luz and Amity had come across the spell in the first place. Even if the building itself still existed, she doubted the books did, especially the forbidden texts she’d found in the shadowy, closed off restricted section all that time ago. That was it. There was no way to help Amity.

“Don’t worry.” Edric plastered a fake smile on his face in an attempt to cheer her up. “Who needs a time spell when  _ believing in yourself  _ is-”

“Can it, Edric.” She kicked at the dirt at her feet, pretending that it was whatever had hurt Amity. The tip of her purple-and-white sneaker was dusty and brown when she spoke again. “You don’t get it. I’m out of options. I can’t help Amity the way she is now. I can’t help her  _ before _ she became the way she is now. It’s over. I’ve lost her.” It took all her willpower not to cry. Was the Amity she had known really gone for good? Somehow, she refused to believe it. The Amity she loved was in there somewhere. She knew it.

She just had to find her. So what if it took a little more digging than she’s originally anticipated?

It was Emira speaking up that caused the last bit of hope in her chest to spark. “Ed, I think you’re forgetting something.”

“I am?”

Emira rolled her eyes. “Uh, yeah. Don’t tell me you’ve already forgotten our  _ last  _ trip to the library. You know, with Mittens on her sixteenth birthday, and that epic escape…”

“Of course!” Edric brightened. “Okay, Luz. Let’s start heading back to the manor. We’ve got a lot of searching to do when we get there. But first, I’ve got to tell you the story of how Em and I decided to forgo joining a coven!”

~

“And that’s why you should never swordfight a librarian,” he concluded as the three of them climbed up the stairs to the front of Blight Manor. “I can’t wait for you to see all the books we managed to take. What a day that was! Even Mittens didn’t escape unscathed. You saw that scar on her face, right?”

“So  _ that’s _ how she got it?” Luz was startled. She’d expected the story of the scar that trailed all the way down the length of her face to be attributed to something more along the lines of an epic showdown with the Emperor, not committing theft on the public library’s last day of operation.

“Oh no, not that one,” Edric amended. “I’m talking about the one above her eyebrow. I’m not sure where the one on her cheek came from. It must be new.”

“Oh.” Luz hadn’t even noticed that Amity had more than one scar on her face. The thought of her former girlfriend undergoing physical trauma as well as emotional made her a bit nauseous, and as they entered the manor, she had to lean on the doorframe to steady herself. 

Viney and Willow met them in the parlor. “Did you get anything?” Willow asked urgently. 

Emira shook her head. “She stalked off before we’d even had a chance to properly talk to her. It’s only been four months since she went missing. What in the stars’ name happened?”

“I’m going to find out,” Luz promised.

“We’re going to show Luz the library,” Edric told them. “We’re hoping we can find a spell in the books we stole back when Amity was sixteen that can send her back.”

Viney’s gaze darkened. “So you’re really going through with this time spell thing.”

“I wish I had another option,” Luz said grimly.

“Then good luck to you.”

“I’ll help you search,” Willow volunteered.

Viney hesitated, then nodded. “And so will I.”

“Perfect,” said Emira. “We’ll need all the help we can get. We’ve got a lot of shelf to cover.” She gestured for the others to follow her. She led them through a few twisting corridors that branched off from the parlor, up a flight of stairs, and down a long hallway. At the end of the hallway stood a massive set of wooden double doors. The lower half of each door was carved with a meticulous and detailed letter B, not unlike the crystal table in the living room. Luz knew the Blights had always taken great pride in their name, but seeing all the Blight-inspired decorations only made her miss Amity more. 

“Just through here,” Emira announced. She pushed the wide doors open, and when Luz stepped inside, she was instantly enveloped in sunlight.

The Blight library was a huge turret with a glass dome ceiling, allowing light to flood through and bathe the dark hardwood floors in brightness. Shelves a story high lined the walls, with some in the middle of the room as well, accompanied by a large studying desk. Dust particles drifted through the air. Luz guessed that even now, the library was seldom used. 

Emira held out her arms in greeting. “Welcome to the Blight library.”

Normally she would have been excited to behold such a majestic place, but Luz hung off to the side and didn’t make any efforts to begin searching. The library was beautiful, but she supposed that was part of the problem. She assumed that this was a place where Amity had frequently studied. Now, Amity may never take comfort in its walls again. 

The other four spread throughout the library in an instant. Luz admired their determination- they were all clearly set on helping her, but she couldn’t make herself join them. It was far too easy to imagine a younger Amity within this room, among these very shelves. So she crept along the outer wall instead, trying her best to avoid all the memories that weren’t even her own. 

After a moment, she slipped behind a bookshelf and into a dark, cramped corner, where the light disappeared and the air was so dusty that she had to suppress her coughs. She ran her hands along the wall to guide herself. The whole area was hardly the width of her shoulders, but Luz continued on. She needed a moment to herself, to contemplate her decision. If she found a time spell, could she really go through with it now that she knew what time travel entailed? Or was Amity already too far gone?

Her hand brushed something that jutted out from the wall, and she paused. She traced it with one finger, then gripped it and shook it. Her breath caught in her throat. A doorknob. A doorknob for a secret door in the back of the Blights’ library.

She knew instantly what this door must have been for.

Against her better judgement, she opened it and slipped inside. It was pitch black. She pulled a pen and pad of paper that she’d grabbed from the parlor out of her pocket and drew a glyph, holding it at arm’s length so that she could inspect her surroundings. 

The first thing she saw was a bed with pink sheets, made neatly, pillow fluffed and propped against the headboard. The second was a writing desk with a small roll of parchment laid across it. The third, a poster on the wall- or, she supposed, half a poster. It had been torn down the middle- right down the center of Lilith’s smug face- and flopped over towards the floor. 

Her pursuit of escape from anything that reminded her of Amity had led her to the last place she’d wanted to find herself in. Of course Amity’s bedroom had a secret door leading to the library. It just made  _ sense. _

It was hard to believe that this was the bedroom of a girl who had disappeared under mysterious circumstances four months ago and never been seen again until today. Even her old letterman jacket was still laid across the back of the chair at her desk. The whole place was just as well-kempt as she’d expected Amity’s room to be- not a hint of a mess in sight, everything laid out as it should have been. She approached the desk- she knew she shouldn't have been snooping, but the roll of parchment on it had piqued her interest. Perhaps there’d be information here that would lead her closer to solving the mystery of Amity’s past. Maybe even information useful enough that she wouldn’t have to time travel at all.

She placed the light orb on the desk and used it as a reading light. The parchment actually wasn’t a scroll at all, but rather a page from a very old book, written in swirling script, accompanied by a glyph. It reminded her of the page she’d carried with her during her last escapade, that she’d wordlessly handed to Amity as they had crouched together in the corner of the Emperor’s throne room. She began to read.

_ This spell was created by historian Whisper in the year 312. Seeking a way to gather information about history in a way that was much more ‘up close and personal’ than traditional methods of study, they experimented with glyphs for twenty years before arriving at one that at last had the desired effect. The Tracing spell, as they called it, is a successor to the first recorded time spell Rectification and would soon pave the way for future advancements in time magic such as the Possibility spell, created in 330. The spell gives users a one-week window into any moment of history, regardless of location, and returns them to their native timeline when the time is up with no changes or discrepancies between timelines.  _

_ Perhaps the spell’s greatest nuance was never explained by Whisper before their death in 320, and this was the rule that upon returning to the past, the spellcaster cannot speak of anything regarding their chronological origin. It was concluded among chronomagicians (those who study time magic, a field that has since died out) that this helped to assure the lack of alterations to unassociated timelines. Others theorized that it was merely to enhance the spellcaster’s level of observation, and an even smaller group suggested that it was nothing but a nod to Whisper themself and their legacy to the advancement of time magic. _

Hands shaking, Luz folded the paper up in her hands. She’d found it. Exactly what she needed, sitting here in Amity’s bedroom. She  _ was  _ meant to cast this spell. There was no other explanation.

She couldn’t return to the library fast enough.

“Guys?” she called. She skidded to a halt on the polished wooden floors, and the other four abandoned their tasks and flew to her side. 

Emira nearly slammed into her. The Blight girl’s excitement was nearly tangible, her eyes alight. “Did you find something?”

“Yeah, look.” Luz handed her the paper. “It’s exactly what I need.”

Emira squinted at it, and the others gathered around her so that they could make out the words as well. “You won’t be able to tell Amity you’re a time traveler,” she said. “And you’ve only got a week. Is that a good thing or a bad thing?”

“I’m not sure. But it doesn’t matter. All I need to be able to do is see. If the week isn’t enough- I can just try again.”

“If you’re certain.” Emira took a step back. “Have at it, then. See you on the flip side, human.”

“Please tell Eda where I’ve gone.” Luz pulled out another sheet of paper and began to copy the glyph. She stared at it for a moment when she finished, suddenly unsure. Was she certain there wasn’t another way?   
“I can do that for you,” Willow offered.

“Thanks, Willow.” Luz swallowed nervously. She pictured Amity in her mind- kindness restored, the way she was before she’d been subjected to… whatever had changed her. That was where she needed to go.

She tapped the glyph, and the world was swallowed up.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> on the first day of christmas kontra gave to u: an unedited chapter because she’s impatient and craves comment serotonin and sorry this took so long i’m just trying so hard to vibe and i ended up writing the act 1 ending instead of this bc i’m excited about it which pushed my posting date back- ok anyway

Luz blinked her eyes open.

Everything spun. Her hand darted out in an effort to find something to balance on, and it brushed rough bark. She let herself relax. After a moment her heart stopped racing, and she stepped away from the tree and surveyed her new surroundings.

She was in the woods by the cliff. Just like always.

Judging from the sun, it was about noon, and from the bite in the air and the buds on the trees, not yet summer. Luz recalled that the twins had told her that Amity had graduated in March and disappeared shortly thereafter. If the spell had worked, she should have been standing on a crisp early spring afternoon. 

She pulled her leather jacket tighter around her body. Maybe she should have packed better for the weather. 

Voices drifted through the trees towards her, so she ducked away from the trunk she was standing at and headed in their direction. She was subconsciously aware that she was heading towards Hexside, and she hoped desperately that if she was, Amity would be there. 

She emerged from the glade in front of the school to see a huge group of students poised on the steps leading up to the entrance. They all wore dark gray robes and gray graduation caps, and color-coded cords hung around their necks, correlating to the track from which they were graduating. She felt a flash of pride. She’d stumbled right into the graduation ceremony of Amity’s class.  _ My time travel skills are on point, _ she bragged to herself. 

She sought the crowd desperately for Amity and for her orchid-colored cord, but she was still too far away to make out anyone’s face in particular. _ Maybe if I can get closer without being seen…  _

“Smile, Class of Twenty-four!” someone called as she darted toward the school, using trees to cover herself along the way. Now she could finally recognize a few of her former classmates. There was Willow, robe outlined in green, and Gus, standing next to her, in sky blue. Now she made out Principal Bump standing in front of the gathered group of students, holding a heavy and professional-looking camera.

Someone in the crowd raised their hand. “Can we please go soon?” she yelled.

Luz recognized the girl who had spoken.  _ Boscha. _ Evidently, she hadn’t much changed.

“Just wait until the picture is done,” Bump rasped in reply. “Then you’re all free to gallivant off like the mature adults you now are.”

Boscha rolled her eyes. “Graduation is  _ stupid. _ I’ve already been asked to join the Emperor’s Coven. I should-”

“We know, Boscha. Just be quiet so I can take the photo.”

Boscha groaned and plastered a forced smile across her face. As soon as the camera snapped, the students burst into cheers, and it took not even a second for them to begin dispersing. Wary of the stampede of students headed straight for her, Luz ducked behind a large bush a few yards away from the steps. She held her breath in case any of her former classmates could hear how loud her heart was pounding. 

After a moment she peeked over the top of the bush again. Red, yellow, brown, blue… she skipped over every cord that wasn’t pink. There were definitely no heads of mint-green hair in the crowd, either. With every second that passed, her heart sank further and further in her chest. Maybe Amity wasn’t amongst the graduating students. Maybe the  _ bad thing _ had already happened. Maybe her connection with Luz across the time-space continuum was so strong that she could sense Luz’s presence, and wanted nothing to do with her.

It seemed almost likely, until a pair of eyes met Luz’s from across the path. 

Swallowing a shriek, she pressed herself closer to the ground. Someone had seen her. Panic rendered her frozen. She couldn’t crawl away. She was stuck like glue to the soil, and the only thing she could do as footsteps thumped towards her was curl further into herself. She hoped it was only Willow or Gus, and not someone like-

“Luz?”

Luz peeled her hands away from her face. She slowly struggled to her feet, consciously aware of the dirt on her clothes. She couldn’t bring herself to look the newcomer in the eyes. She was terrified of what she might find if she did.

“Luz, look at me.”

She couldn’t resist the gentle command. She lifted her head and met the other’s gaze evenly. There was profound emotion written clearly across her features, but it wasn’t anger. It wasn’t even disappointment or frustration. Luz didn’t want to get her hopes up, but to her, it looked almost like longing.

“It’s me,” the other girl said, her tone hushed. “It’s Amity.”

“Amity.” Luz broke, stumbling forward and falling into Amity’s welcoming embrace. Amity removed her graduation cap. Luz rested her chin on the top of Amity’s forehead, and felt the other witch’s arms pull her closer.

“Sweet stars, Luz, I missed you,” whispered Amity. “I thought you’d never come back.”

“You missed me.” The words were music to Luz’s ears. Her suspicions were confirmed. The animosity Amity had directed at her-  _ would _ direct at her?- was not merely the work of time on her mind. She was certain now that something had happened to her after Hexside’s graduation ceremony, and it was her job to find out what it was. 

“More than I could ever say.”

She pulled away and put her arms around Amity’s waist. “Then stay with me this time.”

Amity’s lips quirked up into a smile. “You were the one who left,” she pointed out.

“I didn’t want to.”

“Would you rather have been petrified?”

For the first time in days, Luz found herself smiling. She laughed and moved one hand up to softly touch Amity’s cheek. Her skin was smooth and unscarred. “You remember.”

“It’s a bit hard to forget that sort of thing,” murmured Amity, melting into Luz’s touch .

For a moment, Luz was so caught up in the tenderness between the two of them she’d forgotten that students were still clearing the school, and some of them were giving them rather strange looks as they passed. She thanked the stars that she didn’t recognize any of them, so hopefully, they didn’t recognize her either. “Maybe we should go somewhere your classmates won’t be,” she suggested.

Amity blushed. “Ye-yeah, we probably should. We have a lot to catch up on.”

~

They found themselves at a small coffee shop in the corners of Bonesborough, where Amity assured Luz nobody would recognize them. On their walk there, she pointed out a few posters on the walls of various buildings- posters that looked eerily similar to the wanted poster Eda had hung above her couch, but this time, they bore Amity and Luz’s faces, each drawn with a cartoonish grin. The poster was captioned  _ WANTED- Amity and Luz, the Time Witches, reward One Billion Snails. _

“Wow,” Luz said. “I hadn’t noticed those before.”

“We’re kind of a big deal here.” To Luz’s surprise, Amity didn’t sound bitter at all. She sounded almost playful, like being a wanted criminal was just a fun adventure for her.

_ “If you’d never come here, I never would have needed to cast the spell in the first place.” _

That couldn’t have been the same person, she thought to herself. “So how have you managed to evade the Coven all this time?”

“Part of me thinks it’s the hair,” Amity replied. She pointed to her auburn ponytail and gave Luz a goofy grin. “I mean, they made the poster three years ago, before the twins bested my parents in the duel and I was finally freed of the hair dye curse.”

“I guess that makes sense.”

“They also might expect us to be together.”

“Doesn’t Belos know I went back to the human realm?”

“Probably.” Amity shrugged. She kicked a stray stone at her feet, and it went skittering towards a Coven guard, smacking into their foot. The guard glanced around for a moment, but didn’t look twice at the two witches walking right in front of them. “I mean, maybe. I don’t know how much of the Petrification ceremony he actually saw. And maybe he didn’t understand all the implications of the time spell, either.”

“Or,” Luz concurred, “he knows me well enough to guess that I’d come back eventually and look for you.”

Amity shoved her shoulder playfully. “Ever my fearless champion.”

“And don’t you forget it.”

“We’re here,” Amity announced. She paused in front of a worn wooden door that hung ajar off the frame. Buzzes of conversation drifted out from the inside, and with it, she unmistakable scent of burnt coffee with an added tang of demon fur. 

Luz wrinkled her nose. “I was excited at first when you told me that the Isles had coffee shops too.”

Amity laughed. “Yeah, it’s not for everyone. But nobody in there will turn us in, so it’s kind of been my refuge when I’m not at home with the twins.” She stood at the side of the door and nodded at Luz. “After you,” she said graciously.

Luz smiled and ducked inside. 

“You should go sit down,” she said as she followed Luz in. “I’ll order. Want anything?”

Luz tried her best to sound polite. “No, thank you. Besides, I don’t have any snails on me, so-”

“No snails!” Amity waved her hand dismissively. “Oh, for the Titan’s sake, Luz. You think that you’re just going to show up here after four years only for me to make you pay for your food? Don’t tell me you haven’t eaten since you got here.”

“I haven’t, but-”

“That settles it. I’m getting you a sandwich.” She pointed to a table in the corner of the dark room. “Go sit. I’ll be there in a minute.”

Too amused to argue, Luz nodded and made her way to the spot Amity had pointed out.

She people-watched (witch-watched?) until Amity returned. The crowds in here were certainly an interesting bunch. They looked like just the sort of shifty-eyes demons who wouldn’t turn in the Isles’ (new) most wanted criminal, too absorbed in their quiet conversations amongst themselves to pay much mind to what anyone else was doing. The modern Boiling Isles struck Luz as a ruthless kill-or-be-killed world, and while it may not have been ideal, perhaps its nature would help protect Amity for the time being.

Amity returned a few minutes later, holding a steaming cup of something that smelled vaguely tea-like in one hand and a small lump wrapped in paper in the other. Luz guessed this was her sandwich. Amity dropped it in front of her unceremoniously. “Here. You don’t have to eat it, but I figured I should try to help.”

“Thank you.”

“So.” Amity plopped down in the seat across from Luz. She ran her hand through her long auburn hair and fixed her inquiring gaze on her companion. “It’s been four years. Tell me everything. About the human realm, how you got here, what you’ve been up to… I want to know everything.”

“Well…” Luz trailed off, unsure where to start. Four years was an awfully long time frame, and she should have been able to think of something to talk to Amity about, but in spite of that, her mind went blank, throwing the memories of any interesting things that had happened to her out the window. “There’s a lot to say. Narrow it down for me, and… maybe I’ll be able to find the words?”

Amity took a long sip of her tea. Her posture slumped a little, as if she was suddenly nervous. Her eyes flicked about when she set the cup down again, and it was a moment before she cleared her throat and found what she wanted to say.

“Did you… did you have any girlfriends in the human realm? Or boyfriends? Or- or whatever?”

So that’s what Amity had wanted to know. Feeling a twinge of amusement, Luz hoped she’d like the answer. “No, I didn’t,” she admitted. “My mom tried to set me up with colleagues’ kids or family friends on multiple occasions, but I never took her up on her offers. I didn’t know how to tell her that someone from another dimension already had my heart.” Amity didn’t respond, just kept her eyes directed towards the table, so Luz tried again. “What about you?”

“There was… one,” Amity answered after a moment of hesitation. “Two years ago. Summer before junior year. She was a bard student, part cat or… something, pretty good at her track. Not very good-looking, but nice.  _ Too _ nice.” She shuddered at the memory. “Eventually, I couldn’t stand being with her, knowing she’d give the world to me if I asked, and that I couldn’t say the same. The whole time, I was just holding out for you. It felt unfair. So I ended it just after junior year started.” 

“That sucks.”

“I don’t miss her.” She shrugged. “I’m sure she’s got someone better now, who can treat her the way she deserves. I got what I wanted out of the relationship, though- and that was the knowledge that I could never really get over you, no matter how hard I tried.”

Luz stared at Amity in stunned silence for a moment.  _ I could never really get over you, no matter how hard I tried. _ She’d assumed that four years had been plenty of time for Amity to move on, especially considering the state of their encounter from that morning-slash-four months into the future. But knowing that Amity  _ hadn’t _ in fact moved on…? This made her stomach do all sorts of backflips, as well as made Amity’s former-slash-future hostility seem even stranger. “So you… you still like me?”

Reaching across the table, Amity took both of Luz’s hands in hers. “I still love you, Luz,” she said, with such gripping sincerity that Luz wondered once again if this was simply a dream. “I never stopped.”

“I never stopped either,” Luz whispered. 

As if she’d been shaken back to reality, Amity pulled her hands back. “I need to do something important tomorrow. Will you come with me?”

“Of course.”

“Now that I’ve officially graduated, I need to make my palisman. I was going to do it today, but… I’d rather spend the day with you.” She spared Luz a small smile. “If you’d like that.”

Luz’s chest flooded with warmth. “I’d like nothing more.”

“Good. I’ve been planning this ever since you left. I figured I’d make it out of the Grom tree. I guess it’s good that you’re here, so that I can ask you first, since it’s your tree too, so if you don’t want me chopping it up, I totally understand. I was thinking… maybe a cat for a palisman?”

An image flashed through Luz’s mind- Amity crouching in front of her, the cat palisman’s tail tickling her chin. Hardened gold eyes looking into her own. Amity’s disguised hatred. The long scar that curled down her face.

But Luz knew that she couldn’t change the past, no matter how much she wanted to, for Amity’s sake and for her own.

“A cat palisman is a good idea,” she answered.

Amity brightened. “Great! Then we’ll go together.” She blinked. “You… you do have a place to stay tonight, right? Since Eda and Lilith are out of town and they locked the Owl House up?”

“Eda’s out of town?” That might have been a handy detail to know before she went through with the whole time-travel escapade.

“Yeah…” Amity’s brow furrowed. “Wait, how’d you get in through the portal this morning if Eda wasn’t there to open it for you? And she never said anything about expecting you to come visit.”

“It was a surprise,” Luz said hurriedly. “Uh… she left the portal open. Before she left. So that I could come through.”

“Well, alright then. In that case, you’re more than welcome to stay with me and the twins in our… lovely… apartment for the time being. Unfortunately, even though Ed and Em beat our parents in a duel for the manor fair and square, there was some little stupid law loophole that allowed them to bar us from entering until we’re  _ all _ eighteen. Which, for me, won’t be for another two months,” Amity huffed. “It’s super annoying, but we’re getting by. I’m just warning you, though,” she added, “there are only two beds at the new place.”

Luz grinned. “Oh, be still, my cliche fanfiction loving heart!”

“I’ll take that as a yes.”

“Oh, it’s a yes.” Hope soared in Luz’s heart. Maybe she hadn’t come here just to observe what had happened to Amity to make her change. Maybe she could prevent any harm from coming to Amity at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> amity dating my witchsona go brrr
> 
> also i Do have a tumblr and ig under the same username, pls come ask me abt my fics bc i crave the serotonin :)


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i have the plague i don’t feel very writey:( better chapters coming i promise

_ Luz was dreaming. _

_ Darkness swirled around her, but the steady thump of her heartbeat filled her ears. In the distance, someone called out, a wailing screech of agony. She may not have been able to see who it was, but she recognized their scream immediately.  _ Amity!

_ She rushed forward, blindly fighting her way through the suppressive darkness. Her head pounded with pressure.  _

_ “You can’t do that!” Amity cried. “It’s all I have left-” She was cut off abruptly, and silence surrounded Luz once again. She strained her ears, searching for anything, any indication that Amity was alright. There was nothing. She waited a moment longer, but the darkness gave no reply to her silent plea. _

_ “Amity! Amity, where are you?” The words echoed against nothing, sending ghostly calls throughout the blackness.  _ Amity, where are you? Amity where are you? Amity, where are you?

_ “Amity!’ Luz tried once again, but when she received no answer, her knees buckled, and she was falling, falling, falling, surrounded by the memories of Amity’s terrified wail, repeating over and over and over… _

“Luz!”

With a gasp, Luz jolted awake. Pale light filtered through a window a few feet away. Something warm touched her hand, and she jerked it back.

“It’s okay,” came a whisper at her side. “It’s just me. You were having a bad dream.”

Once she realized what was going on, embarrassment coursed through her. Of course she’d been dreaming. In sleep, her worries could too easily become reality.

“You’re right here?” Her murmur was shaky. “You’re okay?”

“I’m just fine,” Amity soothed. 

Barely suppressing her sniffles, Luz wrapped her arms around Amity and buried her face in Amity’s chest. “I was scared,” she confessed. “I thought someone had hurt you.”

Amity tilted her head. “What happened in your dream, exactly? If you don’t mind telling me.”

“I couldn’t see anything,” Luz began. “I didn’t know where I was, or how I’d gotten there. But I could hear you yelling. You were calling at someone, and it sounded like you were in pain. And I tried to get to you, but then I was falling- and- and-”

“Shh. You’re alright.” Amity moved one hand up to comfortingly stroke Luz’s hair. “It wasn’t real. None of that was real. I’m here with you, right now, and I’m okay.”

Luz swallowed the lump in her throat. “Okay.”  _ But it  _ felt _ so real…  _ she thought.  _ If that dream wasn’t a memory of the past, what if it’s a vision of the future? Stars, please don’t let prophetic dreams be a side effect of time travel! _

“The sun’s coming up,” Amity said, glancing out the bedroom window. “We could go to the tree now, if you wanted. The cliff is beautiful this early in the morning. All the colors on the water… it’s gorgeous. And some fresh air might clear your head. If you could...” She wriggled a bit, trying to dislodge Luz’s arms wrapped tightly around her torso. “I should go get changed.”

“Right. Sure.” Luz shifted to allow Amity to pry herself out of their embrace. She disappeared out the door, leaving Luz alone, wreathed in silence, bathed in the faint dawn light that streamed through the window. 

She pulled her knees to her chest, unsure what to do.

It was strange, being in Amity’s new living space. The small bedroom lacked the character of her old room at the manor, but there was still something undeniably  _ Amity  _ about it. Maybe it was the pale teal color of the curtains, or the way the candle burning on her nightstand made the whole room smell faintly of flowers and cinnamon. Perhaps it was merely the sense of safety that Luz hadn’t felt in years as she’d cuddled up to Amity and quickly dozed off. It was as if she’d traveled all the way back to her freshman year rather than back four short months. 

She toyed with the collar of her jacket as she looked around. She wished she had a change of clothes, but Eda showing up at the shack a few days ago had been sudden, and she hadn’t known to pack for an extended stay. So, she’d slept in her uncomfortable jeans. For a time traveler, she thought, she sure was bad at foresight. 

Her eyes landed on Amity’s closet.  _ It’s not like I have a choice,  _ she mused to herself _.  _ Maybe Amity wouldn’t mind. Maybe she’d even find it cute if Luz took it upon herself to find something nice to wear to the palisman carving. 

She quickly discovered that Amity had never really moved on from her wardrobe of muted gray and black. Luz pulled out leggings and a plain gray sweatshirt bearing the Hexside logo, but as she moved to close the closet door, a dot of color caught her eye. 

Sandwiched in the very back of the closet was her old purple-and-white hoodie, hanging nondescriptly, wrinkled and faded as if it had been very well worn. An unexpected wave of tears hit the back of her eyelids.  _ She found it. _ For a moment, Luz had forgotten that she’d left it in her old room in the Owl House for Amity to find.

_ But she’s had it all this time. _ She pulled it from its hanger and held it close. It even smelled like Amity now, fruity and flowery. 

Something in the front pocket crinkled. She reached into it and pulled out a small folded piece of paper. 

She couldn’t help but chuckle when she unfolded it.  _ The note. Of course. _ Maybe Amity had been telling the truth yesterday when she’d admitted she’d never stopped loving Luz.

But then again, why would she have needed to lie?

Luz had changed and replaced her old hoodie, along with the note, when a sharp knock rapped on the door. “Hi,” Luz called. Her voice cracked and she winced.

Amity poked her head through the doorway. “Are you-” Her hand flew to her mouth when she caught sight of Luz, and the corners of her eyes crinkled with laughter. “Sweet Titan, Luz, are those my clothes?”

Luz tried her best to remain nonchalant. “I didn’t have anything else to wear.”

“I’m surprised my leggings fit you.” Amity made her way to Luz and punched her playfully on the arm. “You tall string bean.”

“Yeah, I did a growth spurt after junior year. Besides,” Luz babbled, “short girls are cute.”

Amity paused. “Oh!” She cleared her throat and flicked her ears, seemingly trying to dislodge the redness that was crawling up her pale skin. “Anyway! Do you need any breakfast? The twins are very good at ‘pancakes.’” She put air quotes around the last word, and Luz grinned at her.

“Thanks for the offer, but I’m good. I’m way too excited to have an appetite.”  _ And nervous, _ she added silently. But Amity didn’t need to know about the mysterious impending disaster, not when Luz was so set on preventing it.

“That’s fair. I just need to grab one thing before we go.” Walking to her nightstand, Amity pulled open the drawer in the front of it and produced a sharp silver dagger with a gleaming golden handle. She held it up so that it caught the light. 

Luz flinched. “Be careful with that!” The dagger was only a few inches from Amity’s face, and if she moved it any closer… 

“This is the Blight palisman-carving dagger,” Amity told her. “It’s been passed down through my family for generations. Normally, I wouldn’t want to use anything my parents did, but it’s the only one in the world that’s been enchanted to do this.” Holding out her hand, she slid the blade across her palm. Luz held her breath, heart pounding in her ears, but Amity’s expression remained calm. It was as if she was only sliding butter across her skin- no wound appeared, and Amity was smiling when she tucked it into the purse that was slung across her shoulders. “Neat, huh?”

“Yeah.”  _ So that isn’t what causes her scar. If not that, then…  _ Luz shook her head to clear her thoughts.  _ Never mind. I guess I’ve got six days to find out.  _

And yet, Amity’s anguished cries still echoed in her ears.

~ 

Luz wouldn’t have exactly said that the clifftop was overwhelmingly crowded, but it was certainly busier than she’d ever seen it. Being on the edge of a forest, and being rather serene and scenic at that, it was a popular palisman-carving destination. Since it was the day after graduation, a good chunk of the Hexide senior class seemed to be there. 

“None of them would use the Grom tree, right?” Luz whispered as they made their way up the cliff.

Amity shook her head. “Eda cast a spell on it just after you left to make it invulnerable to harm from anyone except you or me.”

“She can do that?”

“Only to plants.”

“That’s stupid,” Luz huffed. “It’d be more useful if she could have used it for herself.”

“She’s still getting the hang of glyph magic.”

“She probably knows more than I do.”

“She’d spent a lot more time here, too.”

When they reached the Grom tree, Luz’s breath fled her chest. Its branches stretched a story above the canopy of the woods, and the leaves were an even deeper pink color than she remembered. The branches whispered in the sunlight, and a gentle breeze caressed her face.

Amity sat down, leaned against the trunk, and pulled the dagger out of the bag. “Watch closely,” she instructed. “You’ll be making your own palisman someday. Doing it right on the first try is key.”

Luz joined her and pressed against her side. “The first try?” she repeated.

“There’s a mandatory woodcarving class all seniors take, so it’s easy to get the hang of it.” Amity inserted the dagger into the soft bark. “Until you pass, though, you just have to listen to your teacher scream at you about how horribly wrong you’re doing everything.”

Luz watched closely as Amity dug a long block of wood out of the trunk. “That reminds me of when I had to learn to drive in the human realm,” she said. “The number of times I almost died trying to parallel park, let me tell you. My instructor was about ready to kick me out of the car more than a few times.”

“I don’t know what that means, but I’m sorry.”

“I only failed my driver’s test once.” Luz shrugged. “It’s no big deal.”

“Now look.” Amity pulled a long strip of wood out of the tree. It was white, just like the staff Luz had seen four months in the future. A chill raced up her spine when she made the connection. 

Watching Amity meticulously transform the strip of bark into a sturdy, round staff was soothing. The pair fell into a silence as Amity worked, so the only thing Luz could hear was the steady lapping of waves against the shore. When Amity finished with the staff, she set it aside and dug out another, thicker block from the tree. She whittled away at it for a while, and after a few minutes, a pricked pair of ears emerged from the wood. They were followed by a slim muzzle, dainty paws, and a long, curved tail. Amity’s eyes shone with pride when she finished by cutting the interlock into one of its paws. She passed it to Luz. “What do you think?”

“It’s adorable.” Luz cupped the tiny cat in her hands. It  _ was _ really cute when her life wasn’t on the line. “Out of curiosity… why’d you choose a cat?”    
Amity took her palisman back and grabbed her staff to fit them together. “Do you want me to be honest?” she asked half-jokingly.

“Of course.”

“Cats remind me of you. Specifically of the stupid hoodie you used to wear. I’ve been planning to make my palisman a cat ever since you left, because I thought that… maybe it’d be like having a little bit of you still with me.” She cast a sideways glance at Luz. “And here you are anyways.”

Luz was at a loss for words. “That’s…”  _ Sweet? Adorable? Going to make me cry? _

“It’s the truth.” Sighing, Amity clicked the palisman’s interlock onto the staff and drew a tiny spell circle around its head. “Hi, Gizmo,” she whispered. 

_ Gizmo.  _ What an adorable name.

Gizmo twitched and blinked open sapphire-blue eyes. She  _ mrrowed _ softly at Amity before turning to Luz and giving her a plaintive mew.

“She likes you,” murmured Amity. “Gizmo, this is Luz. She’s my…” She hesitated, focusing her pleading gaze at her companion. Luz pretending to play into obliviousness and said nothing. “My friend,” she finished. Her voice was tight, as if she were choking on the words she truly wanted to say. “Luz, meet my new palisman.”

“She’s wonderful,” Luz said. She put her head down on Amity’s shoulder and reached out to pet the little cat. “And so sweet.”

“I’ll make sure you guys are the best of buddies.” Amity glanced up at the sky. “It’s almost noon. What do you say we take Gizmo out for lunch?”

“As long as we don’t have to go to the same place as yesterday,” Luz laughed. 

“Don’t worry. We won’t.” Amity got to her feet and Luz followed. 

“Are there even any other places where you won’t be turned in?”

“Who cares? I’ve got a magic witch’s staff to protect me now.”

“Yeah.” Luz could only hope that Amity’s tiny little cat would be enough to protect her from the horrible trauma she knew was coming, and felt even more powerless to stop with each passing second.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> happy new ear i got over my plague but mario 3d all stars consumed my life so sorry if it’s been a hot second

“Are your eyes still closed?”

“Yes.” Luz smiled, not moving her hands from where they rested over her face. Amity was trying so hard to be secretive. It was cute, but the roaring and screaming that echoed around them meant that they could really only be in one place, and Amity clearly hadn’t thought to bring earmuffs.

“Okay.” Amity released Luz’s hand. “Open them!”

Blinking open her eyes, Luz surveyed their location and laughed. Her mental guess had been right. Bustling lights and sounds surrounded them on every side, the mouthwatering scent of expensive but hastily made fair fare wafted from a nearby vendor, and rock music played from speakers set at the entrance to a roller coaster called the Snaggleback. The dusk sun that illuminated the Isles completed the scene. “I knew it!” she exclaimed. 

Amity rolled her eyes. “Was it the screaming or the smell of deep-fried Horreos?” she joked.

“A little bit of both. Wow, I can’t believe you brought me here.” Luz turned in a circle, excitedly taking in everything she could see. “I used to beg Eda to take me here all the time, but she said that-” she lowered her voice to impersonate her mentor- “‘Six Hags is full of security measures and other useless protocols that could get me sent to the Emperor before you could say Hexes Hold’em.’ So I never got to go.”

“Oh, this isn’t Six Hags anymore,” Amity said smugly. There was a strange light in her eyes- she was up to something, Luz realized. Something she was evidently very proud of.

Luz narrowed her eyes. “What are you getting at, Blight?”

“This place isn’t just an amusement park. Now that it’s under new management, it’s become a safe haven for all sorts of wild witches.” She nodded to a group of witches passing them on the right- witches that weren’t even flashing them the suspicious glances Luz had come to expect over the last five days. “Look around. Do _any_ of these people look like rule followers to you?”

“They look like ordinary people,” Luz replied, frowning.

“Have you seen any wanted posters since we came in?”

“I haven’t really had the chance to look.”

“Touche.” Amity shrugged dismissively. “Anyway, I’d like you to meet the new owner of this place. Well, not meet him, I suppose. Be reunited with him.” She smirked at a trash can just to her left. “Okay, she’s up to speed. You can come out now.”

Luz opened her mouth to ask how in the Titan’s name a trash can could run an amusement park, but before she had the chance to say anything, a tiny ball of fur hurled itself out from behind the bin and latched on to Luz’s leg. Even as the tiny creature swarmed up her side and settled onto her shoulder, she recognized the thick gray fur and red collar. “King!” she cried joyfully.

“Luz!” King yelped. He headbutted her neck in greeting. “I thought your g- Amity was just kidding me when she said you were back. Wow, you’re tall now!” He swatted at her dark brown bob with one paw. “And where’d all this hair come from?”

“I’ll tell you everything as soon as you catch me up.” Luz picked the little demon up by the scruff and set him down on the ground. “You’re running Six Hags now?”

“Yeah, that name was the first thing that had to go.” Squeaking, King clambered to the top of the bin he’d been hiding behind. He held his short arms out as if he was showing off his kingdom and thrust his chin into the air. “Welcome to King’s Island, Luz! A safe place for witches and demons escaping crimes from murder to pickpocketing to arson, we also have three award winning roller coasters and the best not dogs on the whole Isles!”

“I just can’t believe how far you’ve come since your biggest ambition was to be ruler of the playground,” Luz cooed, patting King’s head.

“I am still ruler of the playground,” he declared haughtily, “but now it is a big playground and also I get money whenever someone comes in. The whole setup is much before befitting of the King of Demons.”

“He’s giving us free tickets for the day,” Amity bragged. 

“Ugh! Only because you _finally_ apologized about that cupcake.” Rolling his eyes, he leaned over to growl to Luz. “Took her four whole years. Can you believe it?”

Amity flushed. “Honestly, I’d just forgotten about it.”

“No matter,” he replied briskly. “What _matters_ is that Luz is back, and now I can tell her all about what I’ve been doing since she abandoned us.”

“She didn’t abandon you!” Amity protested. “She didn’t abandon _anyone._ She had to leave.”

Luz blinked at her. “I’m sure King didn’t mean it.” _That’s very contradictory to what she told… is going to tell me later,_ she thought.

“No, I did. But don’t worry, I’m not mad. Who could be mad when they have an entire kingdom under their control to distract them?” He began to jump up and down on the trash can, making it shake. He squealed when he almost toppled over, but he righted himself and puffed out his chest. “This whole place is mine! Weheheheheh!”

Luz exchanged a glance with Amity. “I can think of one person,” she muttered. Amity laughed humorlessly.

“You guys should try Snaggleback first,” said King. He pointed at the roller coaster to their right. “I designed it myself. The Engineering Coven made some minor changes to the blueprint, but I think the main ideas are still there. It’s a work of pure genius! You’ll love it!”

“Am I the only person who’s worried about riding a roller coaster designed by King?” Amity half-joked.

Luz shook her head. “I worry about every roller coaster,” she admitted. “I don’t really… like them.”

“Don’t like roller coasters?” Amity and King cried in unison. 

“But I made it!” King protested.

“But they’re so much fun!” added Amity. “Besides, they’re probably actually… safer… where you come from.”

Sighing, Luz shrugged them off. “It’s not that. I just don’t like them. They’re just not… enjoyable.”

Within a heartbeat, King was leaping onto her chest, gripping her collar to keep himself from slipping. “Luz, I have never met anyone who thought roller coasters weren’t fun. I’m telling you right now that you need to suck it up and give this one a shot. I’m the King of Demons and also of this amusement park, and as your ruler, I command you to at least try!”

Amity nodded in agreement. “I’ll go with you. And I’ll hold your hand if you want,” she offered, her tone vaguely flirtatious.

Luz looked away, anxiously running one hand through her hair. “I don’t know, guys. I thought maybe Amity and I would just do the-”

“The tunnel of love?” King interrupted. If he had eyebrows, Luz was sure that at least one of them would be raised.

“King, stop.” She swatted him away and he landed with a squawk on the ground. “I was _going_ to suggest the ferris wheel.”

“You don’t really strike me as someone who’d be scared of roller coasters, Luz,” Amity said.

“And you don’t strike me as someone who’d like them.”

“I guess they might be an acquired taste. Boscha made me ride them all the time when we were little.”

Murmuring an agreement, Luz had to tilt her head back to take in the gigantic height of the ride. It didn’t appear to be all that different from the ones she had in the human realm- other than being significantly taller. It _looked_ structurally sound. There weren’t any crazy or dangerous looking elements, if she didn’t count the near vertical drop and steep hills it proceeded. Still, imagining herself flying down that drop made her stomach flip like she’d just drank a gallon of milk. “I think I’ll pass,” she said after a moment.

Amity groaned. “Come on, it’d be fun!”

“Luz, look at me.” King scrabbled over to Luz’s feet and tugged at the bottom of her cuffed jeans. She looked down at him, a bit exasperated- and nervous- but still willing to hear him out. “You can handle that thing. You’ve been through so much worse. You’ve faced down the Emperor-”

“Twice,” Amity put in.

“-twice, apparently. I missed the second time, but okay. Plus, you’ve fought so many monsters- Grom, the Slitherbeast, Adegast, to name a few- not to mention that just _surviving_ in the demon realm as long as you have is a feat of pure courage. You can totally ride that dumb ride. Besides, you’re literally here to save the Isles from Belos, right? That’ll be way tougher than braving a big roller coaster.”

“Eda did say that that’s why she chose to bring me back when she did,” Luz mused. Of course the thought of facing Belos and bringing his reign of terror over the demon realm to an end was terrifying, but that seemed a long way off. She still hadn’t even solved the mystery surrounding Amity’s behavior yet. In the moment, the Snaggleback seemed a lot more intimidating than the far-off fight with Belos that she guessed wouldn’t even be the most horrible thing she witnessed during this particular visit.

Amity flashed Luz and inquisitive glance. “Wait a second,” she said. “You came back so you could overthrow Belos?”

Luz nodded. “I know it seems like a big job, but Eda says that the Isles need me.” She ignored the quickly increasing heart rate that came with the reminder of her mission.

“Is that the _only_ reason you came back?”

“Of course not-”

“Eda’s been talking about bringing Luz back to deal with the Belos problem for a long time now,” King said. “Hang on- Luz, how did you get here again? Eda and Lilith have been gone for a week. Nobody who knows the portal glyph has even been at the Owl House recently.”

“I asked her the same thing.” Amity narrowed her eyes. “She said the portal just magically _stayed open_ for several days. And that she just _happened_ to find it in the woods the day before she left for human cool-edge.”

“Of course that’s what happened.” Luz licked her lips, but her mouth had gone dry. She _hated_ lying, especially to Amity. She knew she was horrible at it, too.

Amity’s eyes closed and she shook her head sadly. “I don’t know what your deal is, Luz,” she murmured, “and I don’t know why you’re withholding- whatever. I just… why do you think you’re going to go against Belos alone?”

Luz startled. “I never said I was going against Belos alone.”

“Maybe it’s time to get in line,” King chattered. He tapped on Luz’s shoe a few times. Even he seemed to sense the thick tension that had fallen over the trio. “Who doesn’t want to be, uh- king of the roller coaster?” When nobody replied, he tried again. “Last one to the station is a castle servant?”

Luz ignored the little demon. “I _was_ going to ask for your help, Amity. The only reason I haven’t yet is because the first thing I needed to do when I came back was make sure you were okay. Belos can wait. I missed you more than anyone else while I was away.”

“Who cares if I’m okay?” Amity’s eyes flashed with anger. “You’re going to get yourself killed if you try to play the hero again. You don’t know what it’s like here. You don’t know how strong Belos is.”

“Yes, I do! I’ve fought him twice. I know for a fact that he isn’t invincible.”

“The second time you fought him, we were almost petrified!” Her voice cracked, shooting up a few pitches, and she swallowed. “Do you even know how devastated I would be if I lost you to him?”

“I-”

“I’ve waited years for you to return to me. Now you’re here, but all you want to do is risk your life trying to fight the most powerful witch who’s ever lived.”

“I’d have help,” Luz said desperately. “I’d have you, and Eda, and Willow, and Gus, and the twins- if you all wanted to, of course-”

“That doesn’t change the fact that Belos is _way_ above either of our pay grades. You may have fought him before, but guess what, because of that, we’re both wanted criminals now. He _knows_ he came close to getting bested by a human. He’s stepped up his game.”

Luz found herself unable to look Amity in the eyes “I still owe it to the Isles to try.”  
“And you owe it to me to keep yourself safe.” Amity drew in a shuddering breath and wrapped her arms around her shoulders. Suddenly, Luz realized how different this Amity was from the battle-hardened girl she’d found in the diner. The other had been solid stone- and this one was thin, fragile glass. She could already see the webbing cracks in her exterior. 

“Do you remember what I said to you in the coffee shop? The first day you came here?” Luz managed a quiet “yes,” but Amity went on anyway. “I told you I still loved you. That wasn’t a lie. So please… please, Luz. Keep yourself safe. I can’t imagine a world without you in it. That’s what got me into this mess in the first place, after all. It’s what drove me to tamper with time. Why I have to run. Why _you_ have to run.”

Luz suddenly wasn’t sure what to say. “I’m sorry.”

“Just save me the heartache,” she whispered, “and make sure you’re a part of my future.”

“Okay.”

“I’m not going to pretend I’m not upset that you’d put yourself at risk like this, but-”

Amity froze. Luz heard a vibrating noise, and her stomach dropped when Amity pulled out her scroll. Was it her parents? Her siblings? Had something gone wrong? Had-

The other witch kept the scroll pressed to her ear, and Luz waited with bated breath. Amity’s face transformed from a look of shock to one of plain horror within a minute, and her hands were shaking when she pocketed the scroll again. “Eda needs our help,” she said shakily.

“What happened?”

“It’s Willow.” Her voice was tight with fear. “She’s been captured by the Emperor’s Coven.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> act i finale either next chapter or the one after that idk yet if i’m gonna split them up
> 
> also kings island is a real place and i go there all the time so the opportunity to make a reference to it was 👌👌👌


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this was exhausting
> 
> this chapter is dedicated to the person who said i was their favorite fic author. i love you
> 
> the song i listened to for this one is bowser’s galaxy reactor

Stunned into silence, Luz’s mouth hung open, but King let out an indignant squawk. “Willow’s been  _ captured?” _

Amity nodded. She held out her hand to summon Gizmo. “Eda, Lilith, Gus, and the twins are meeting us at my apartment as soon as possible.” She threw one leg over the back of her staff and nodded to Luz. “Hop on and hold tight.”

As Luz gingerly picked her way over to Amity, King leapt up and down, trying to grab onto the end of the staff with his tiny furry paws. “Am I going?” he asked. “I promised my subjects I’d do a routine check of my other park, King’s Dominion, but if one of my subjects is in need of my help, I am more than happy to abandon my daily duties!”

“Sorry, King,” Amity apologized. “You’d better stay behind. Our rescue party is already pretty big, and if we add anyone else we might run the risk of being captured ourselves.”

He gave a dejected little squeak, but stepped away from the staff.

Luz wrapped her arms around Amity’s middle and rested her chin on the other witch’s shoulder. She couldn’t help being reminded, despite the circumstances, of the last time she and Amity had ridden a staff together- on their way to Hexside on the day of the Emperor’s Castle field trip. She longed for that time, and for the blissful ignorance she’d taken for granted. She hadn’t known that she’d have to watch Eda and Amity suffer that day. Today, though…

The first bit of their ride was silent, though Amity cleared her throat a few minutes into the ride. “Luz…” she began awkwardly. 

Luz hummed in acknowledgement.

“I’m sorry that I was so upset with you for wanting to go and fight the Emperor. I know how you’ve always felt like you had a sort of… sense of duty to the Isles. It’ll be dangerous, and I'll still worry for you. But I want you to know…” She sighed. “I’ll be behind you every step of the way if you decide you still want to fight.”

“I still do.” Feeling an uncharacteristic burst of courage, Luz leaned forward and placed a quick kiss on Amity’s cheek. “And thank you. I’ll need all the help I can get.

The staff jerked as if a gust of wind had hit it, and Luz had to tighten her grip. “Of-of course,” Amity stammered. “What are friends for?”

They landed in front of Amity’s apartment complex a few minutes later. Before they even touched down, Luz spotted the outlines of her friends poised on the sidewalk, clustered closely together. Amity gave the group a cool nod as she dismounted, but Luz couldn’t resist throwing herself straight into Eda’s arms. “Eda! You’re back from your trip!” she exclaimed.

“Luz?” Eda didn’t reciprocate the hug, instead pulling back and regarding Luz with undisguised shock. “How are you- what? What are you doing here?”

_ Oh, right. _ Luz swallowed her frustration at herself that she’d managed to make such an oversight. Now Amity was looking at her strangely, too.  _ Now she can be certain I lied. _ At least this time, she had a distraction. “That doesn’t matter,” she said briskly. She hoped the uncertainness in her voice didn’t show. “We need to rescue Willow.”

Eda frowned. “I still don’t get it. You don’t know the portal glyph. You couldn’t have used it on your side of the portal anyway.”

“I’ll explain as soon as Willow is safe,” she promised. “Her rescue should take priority, right?”

“I guess so.” None of the suspicion left Amity’s golden gaze. “But I want a really good explanation later.”

“And you’ll get one,” insisted Luz. Each lie she told felt sour on her tongue.  _ Tomorrow’s the last day. If everything goes well, I won’t need to explain… _ She glanced over the rest of the group, hoping to find something that would steal their attention away from her obvious fib. 

Her eyes landed on Gus. Taller now than she was, Gus had grown into a lanky, wiry teenager with bright eyes and the slightest hint of stubble on his chin. Relief flooded her. She hadn’t seen him since she’d arrived, but she was so torn between worrying for everyone else that she’d hardly had all the time she’d have liked to worry about him. “Gus,” she sighed gladly. She went over to wrap him in a hug, and he met her eagerly halfway.

“I thought you’d never come back,” Gus sighed, resting his chin on Luz’s forehead.

Her arms tightened around him. “I’m here now.”

“For good?”

“I hope so.” She moved back and squeezed both his hands before she let go. “I’m here to keep the Isles safe.” It was hard to pretend that she couldn’t feel Amity’s narrowed eyes boring into the back of her head. “So that’s what I’m going to do.”

“Then we’d better get going,” Lilith broke in. “It’s a long flight to the Conformatorium, and the less time Willow spends in one of those dusty, horribly-kempt cells, the better.”

Eda nodded. “Luz, you go with Amity on her staff. Does that little cat have a name?”

“Gizmo,” Amity replied, ducking her head. Luz could tell from the red tint of her face that she was quite proud of her expert craftsmanship.

“Perfect. Lily and I will go separately, Gus will go with me, and those two…” she nodded to Emira and Edric, who waved back. They held their staves in opposite hands. Their palismans were two shifty little foxes, carved to be mirror images of each other. “Well, good luck to them.”

“You’re acting like we’ve never been on a rescue mission to one of the most dangerous places on the Boiling Isles before,” Emira said, placing a hand over her head in mock offendedness.

“Trixie and Trouble will easily get us there in one piece,” Edric joked. 

Eda snorted. “I sure hope they do. Anyway, we’re wasting time.” She glanced up at the darkening sky. “Let’s fly.”

“I remember when I went to the Conformatorium for the first time,” Luz murmured, mounting Amity’s staff as the other witch climbed on in front of her. “It was the very first thing Eda and King and I ever did together. Now that I think about it, if she hadn’t made me go to steal King’s crown… I would have gone home, and I never would have met you.”

“You can be sentimental later,” Amity said, rolling her eyes, but she could tell Amity enjoyed the memory. “Come on. Let’s go.”

~

When the Conformatorium finally appeared in the group’s line of sight, dawn was already creeping across the sky. Luz’s heart stopped for a moment when she saw the massive structure.  _ How are we ever going to find Willow in there? _ she thought desperately. The place had to be big enough to hold thousands of prisoners. And she had less than a day before she was sent back to her native time. 

Amity was the first to touch down at the side of the building, with Eda, Lilith, and the twins following soon after. 

Eda wasted no time in directing them to their stations. “Luz and Amity, you’ll fly up to the top of the tower and work your way down. Got it?”

“Of course,” Amity confirmed.

“Lily take Gus, start in the east wing. Emira and Edric, do the west.” She straightened her posture and cleared her throat. “I’m going to go distract Warden Wrath. If I can keep him out of your way, you’re pretty much home free.”

“That sounds dangerous,” Amity said under her breath.

Luz nudged her with her elbow. “Would you rather Willow stay here forever?”

“I guess not.”

Amity poised herself over Gizmo, ready to kick off again, when the twins called out. “Luz, wait!”

“What is it?” Luz dismounted and made her way to the twins.

Edric and Emira exchanged a glance and a nod. “We’d like to try a spell on you,” Emira announced.

“Since you don’t have as much magic as everyone else.”

“We figured it’d help you.”

“No offense.”

“None taken,” Luz assured them.

“It’s an invisibility spell.” Edric drew one half of a spell circle in the air. Mesmerized by the thin sky-blue fire, Luz found a smile pulling at her lips.  _ The twins and their invisibility spells. They really are trying to help.  _ And here she was, once again using an invisibility spell to try and save Amity from a horrible fate.

“Ed and I have been working on it for months. It’s far from perfect, but it should last you long enough to get you in and out.” Emira drew her half of the circle, and when both twins pointed their palismans at the center, the flames swept themselves over Luz.

She assumed the spell worked, because after a moment, the twins high-fived each other and cheered. “I can’t believe we pulled it off!” Edric crowed. Emira sported an equally as delighted grin.

Amity, standing with Gizmo, was slack-jawed. “Luz!” she cried. “I can’t see you!”

“I’m right here.” Luz went back to the staff and placed a reassuring hand on Amity’s shoulder. 

Amity flinched away, but relaxed after a moment. “It’s just you.”

“I’m on your staff now. I’m ready to go.”

“Okay.” She waved goodbye to the others before firmly planting her feet on the ground and sending her and Luz spiraling into the sky.

It took a moment of scouting before they spotted the central prison tower that Eda had indicated to them. They came to a stop outside a large door, and when Luz tested it, she discovered it was unlocked. From the looks of it, it led straight to the cells. “That’s weird,” she muttered as she held the door open for Amity and followed her friend inside.

“You’d think this place would have better security.”

“No kidding.”

Dark and musty, the Conformatorium was only a theoretical step above the Petrification holding cell in the Emperor’s basement. It was eerily quiet this morning, too, despite the cheerful dawn light shining through the barred windows in the walls. Luz was careful to keep her footsteps light, and to be Amity’s eye in case someone- or something- snuck up on them. They tip-toed past each cell to check on the prisoners. None of the locked-up witches looked familiar to them- in fact, most of the cells were empty, save for the occasional five-eyes mouse scuttling around in a corner.

“With all the emphasis on catching the  _ hundreds _ of  _ unruly wild witches _ these days, I’d thought there would be more people here,” Luz whispered. 

“Maybe they’re just really good at staying away from Belos,” Amity guessed.

Luz quickened her pace. There were hundreds of cells in this one tower alone, and the quicker they could get through them, the better. She was about to give up and suggest trying a different wing when a soft hum coming from a few rows down caught her attention. 

Amity must have heard it too. She brought her finger to her lips and beckoned for Luz to follow her.

_ Titan, let it be her, _ Luz thought.

“Luz! You’re back!” Amity hissed when she reached the cell in question. A face poked through the bars and offered a weak smile. It was Willow- battered and exhausted-looking, but alive.

“Amity told me that you’re invisible right now,” Willow said as Luz tried to shoulder the lever that was keeping the cell closed. “That’s really cool.”

“The twins did the spell.” With a grunt of effort, the lever came loose, and Willow’s door slid open. “Now, let’s get out of here.”

“That was easy,” Willow chirped. “I knew you’d come rescue me. Ugh, it was horrible in there! I haven’t eaten all day! The only company I’ve had was… well, none, because plants can’t grow in this place.”

“Willow’s right,” Amity muttered. “It was almost too easy.”

“Let’s just get out of here.”

“Wait.” Amity’s eyes widened. Turning to Luz- or where she guessed Luz was- the fear in her eyes sent a chill up the human’s spine. “I think I just figured it out.”

_ What? _ “Figured what out?” Luz tried to play her nervousness off, but her palms were sweating. She tried to wipe them off on her jeans discreetly.

“Luz, what horrible thing happens to me in the future?”

“What?”

“I can’t believe it took me this long to figure it out.” Amity groaned, pressing her wrist to her forehead. She turned in an agitated circle before refocusing on Luz and Willow. “Your mysterious, portal-less appearance. Eda’s confusion at the fact that you just suddenly showed up out of nowhere. Your- your being so secretive this whole week. You’ve been here for seven days, haven’t you?” Her voice dropped to such a quiet volume that Luz could barely hear it. “Before I left Blight Manor, I left a spell I’d found when we raided the library on my desk. You found it- and now you’re back to warn me. What about?”

Luz averted her gaze. “I’ll explain everything later.”

“No. Tell me now. Tell me what happens to me in the future  _ right now.” _

“Amity-”

_ “Perhaps  _ I _ could tell you.” _

The voice was everywhere at once, omnipresent, sending an electric shock through every bone in Luz’s body. The sound of it made her want to curl up and cover her ears, but she found herself frozen.

“Luz, what’s happening?” Amity wailed.

None of the three witches had any time to process what was going on until two Emperor’s Guards had Amity in their grip. The guards had seemingly come out of nowhere, giving Luz such little time to react that for a solid five seconds, she didn’t.

“Luz! Luz, they took her!”

Luz snapped out of her stupor long enough to realize that Willow was still there. “Right.” She swallowed. “Willow, go find Eda. I’ll be back in just a moment.”   


“What are you doing?”

“Exactly what I came here for. To save Amity.”

~

As soon as the two guards manhandling Amity threw the doors to the Emperor’s throne room open, Luz ducked inside and slid into the shadows in the corners. She took a moment to thank the stars for whoever decided to carpet the room and thus help muffle her footsteps. 

She heard a thump as Amity was thrown to the ground on the far side of the room. The wall was bathed in shadow, and the Emperor was not visible, but Luz knew he was there- if not by the fear that crackled like lightning around her, then for the great green heart that thumped near the ceiling. Perhaps it was her imagination, but it almost seemed like the heart was beating even faster and more erratically than it had four years ago. Was Belos’ grip on his power slipping, despite the rigorous hold he had on the Isles? Luz dismissed the thought. That couldn’t be the case. He was simply manic, power hungry. He was drawing pleasure from the destruction he caused.

Silent as snakes, the two guards ducked away, leaving Amity splayed helplessly before Belos’ feet. She grunted and staggered, trying to stand. Two torches on either side of the throne lit themselves with roaring flames, making her startle and stumble back.

Belos was poised rigidly on his throne, his staff in one hand, his mask gleaming in the firelight. Unlike the smooth brass finish it’d had four years ago, it was now shot through with silver, as if it had been cracked and then repaired. Luz’s muscles froze. To be face-to-face with him again was the stuff of nightmares. A voice within her screamed to get away, but she forced herself to stay still. This is what she had come here for- to observe Amity. She had to know what terrible fate had befallen the girl she loved.

Belos drummed his claw-like fingers on his armrests, and when he spoke, his tone was silky. “Well, well, well,” he drawled, “if it isn’t miss Amity Blight, the infamous Time Witch. I see you fell for my trap. Contrary to popular belief, I don’t need your Willow- she’s only one of thousands of wild witches roaming the Isles at the moment. She makes no difference to me. But you- I’ve wanted you for a while. And now I have you. How  _ kind  _ of you to surrender.”

Only then did Amity find the strength to spring to her feet. “I didn’t surrender!” she snapped. “Your- your  _ guards-  _ the  _ cowards- _ Willow- your dumb trap-”

Belos sighed. Waving a hand, a hazy red glow encircled Amity, and she froze. “Much better,” he murmured. “Your interruptions are not needed right now. Now, to cut to the chase- I understand that you are in possession of illegal magical knowledge with origins from before my time?”

Amity’s jaws stretched wide in a silent scream, and her hand twitched, but she made no noise. The red outline that surrounded her pulsed with energy.

“Ah. Of course.” The Emperor chuckled. “The question is merely rhetorical. I know what you’ve done just as well as you do. You’ve trifled with time, which is a type of magic that never should have existed. There are rumors that chronomagic was a very profitable field of study before I rose to my rightful position on the throne, but naturally, it is no more now. I had believed that the knowledge of time’s secrets died with those who studied them. Clearly, this is not the case.” He released Amity from her magical chokehold, and she collapsed onto the ground, gasping. “I’ll give you one chance to tell me everything you know about time magic. If you do, perhaps I will spare you from the punishment I’ve spent the last few years dreaming up.”

_ Petrification. _ Luz’s mouth went dry. If Amity didn’t tell Belos about the time spell, she’d be petrified. But then again, she was still alive in four months, so she couldn’t have revealed the information Belos wanted.  _ Unless that wasn’t Amity. _ The thought terrified Luz to the bone. She hated how much it made sense. Creating a fake Amity to throw her off Belos’ trail… it was perfectly twisted. Was Amity actually dead?  _ Have I been searching for nothing all this time? _ Was it true that the girl she loved really was gone after all? It kept all her willpower for her to keep her gaze straight ahead as Amity stood, panting with exhaustion. 

Amity lifted her chin. “I’ll never tell you anything,” she snarled, and lunged for Belos’ staff. 

Her fingers closed around empty air. Belos snatched the staff away at the last second and swung it in a wide arc towards her. She flinched away, but she was too slow. Fear had frozen her where she stood, and the sharp end of the staff’s wing sliced her face. She shrieked and bent over, pressing her hand to her cheek. When she drew it back after a moment, Luz could make out the glisten of blood on her palm. 

“So that’s how it is. I suppose I’ll have to go through with the punishment, then,” Belos growled. He stamped the butt of the staff into the floor and Amity rose into the air, hovering just in front of him. Her body convulsed and writhed as if she was in pain.

_ No! _ Luz longed to scream, the back of her throat aching with unshed tears. She wished she could move. She wished she was anywhere but here, rewriting time into a future where her beloved Amity was dead.

“Due to your refusal for compliance, I’ve had plenty of time to contemplate exactly what I should do to you once you did come within my grasp. The Titan was kind enough to provide me with plenty of information regarding your deepest loves and desires, and I’ve decided to use those to my advantage. You’ve no attachment to your parents, and a weak one to your siblings. Looking deep into your subconscious, I could find only one recurring presence, and it was that human, Luz. It’s too bad she didn’t come with you on our grand rescue mission. I’ve use for her, after all.”

Luz’s heart skipped a beat.

“No!” Amity gasped. “Spare her, please! Do whatever you’d like to me. But keep her safe, I-”

“Don’t worry, Miss Amity Blight. I won’t lay a finger on the human. I’ve come up with a clever way for you to take her punishment for dabbling in illegal magic along with your own. And as for the companions that joined you this morning, a simple memory spell will do the trick.” He dropped Amity back onto the floor as if she was but a child’s plaything. “I’ve spent the last four years creating a clever spell that will do irreversible damage. It won’t kill you, but some may say it’s a fate worse than death.” He paused for a moment, clearly basking in Amity’s horror. “Rather than going the traditional Petrification route, I shall simply remove your annoyingly persistent love for the human from your being. Your memories of her will be intact- from this timeline or otherwise- but you will never be able to love her again, and you will never regard her with anything more than cold disinterest. When she returns for you, she will realize that your feelings for her have gone, and she shall suffer as well, for she will lose someone important to her. Is there truly a worse punishment?”

Amity inhaled sharply. “Take my love for Luz? You can’t do that! It’s all I have left-'' She coughed and reached up to wipe her face, the left side of which was still marred and bloodied. “It’s all I have left of her!”

“Perfect.” With a terrifying stoicness, Belos pointed the head of his staff at Amity and unleashed a cold white light that surrounded her crumpled form. Amity cried out like Luz had never heard her before, a spine-chilling wail that betrayed the deepest of agony- pain that went far beyond the physical level. Just as the light began to subside and Amity’s cries faded into pained whimpers, darkness began to swim in the corners of Luz’s vision. She watched on, panicked, but with each passing moment she could see less and less.  _ What’s happening?  _ Was Belos’ curse affecting her, too?  _ No- the time spell! The week is over! _

Just before everything faded out, Belos leaned down and murmured something into Amity’s ear. Luz had to strain to hear it.

“Now, Amity Blight, regarding your future…”

~

Somewhere, in the another time, Amity contemplated. 

She’d been living in this spot for a week now. Perhaps it was time to move on. Bloodsville was a nice town, and very welcoming of fugitives and runaways, too. Finding places to sleep and eat were easy, if also… lower quality, in general, than what she was used to. She silently cursed her upbringing. Maybe if she hadn’t grown up the most privileged witch in Bonesborough, she’d have an easier time being a wild witch now. 

But this wasn’t the past. This wasn’t Eda’s time, where a wild witch could early secure real estate and a house demon that doubled as a freaky guard. Too many had refused to join covens since the Emperor had tightened his grip on power. Belos may not have been on her tail anymore, but she doubted that local law enforcement would think twice before tossing her into the Conformatorium. 

They would certainly be on Luz’s tail, though, if she ever came back.

_ Luz. _

And there was another problem entirely. Even the mere thought of Luz’s same made the pit in her stomach ache more painfully than ever. She hadn’t known what the loss of love felt like, but she hadn’t assumed it would feel like this- like someone had stuck a knife into her chest and carved out the very center of her being. She’d expected a dull numbness at worst, not constant fire.

She wondered what she’d do if she came in contact with Luz again. She searched herself desperately- that was, what was left of herself- for some remnant of what she had once felt for Luz. She found nothing. Her memories of Luz were still there, of course, as Belos had promised- but thinking of even her favorites only made the ache worse. 

The Wailing Star festival. Their first kiss. Their outing to the library. Both Groms. Recalling these memories should have made her feel joy- or perhaps bittersweet nostalgia on a bad day- but now they stirred nothing, and that made her hurt more than anything.

So she looked further, and she found only anger at herself for allowing herself to be caught, and for the devastation she’d surely cause Luz when Luz realized there was no way to reverse the curse.

_ I should go to Bonesborough. _

Where had that thought come from?

_ Could I really look at Luz, knowing I’ll never love her again, and be okay with it? _

Ever since Amity had begun roaming the Isles, she’d avoided Bonesborough like the plague. (Luz actually had told her once that the human realm had had a plague and nobody had tried to avoid it at all, which had struck her as odd, so maybe there was a better expression somewhere in there.) And there she went again, thinking about Luz. She subconsciously hoped to feel even a twinge of affection in her gut, but like she’d grown used to, there was nothing.

So why was her heart pulling her towards her old home?

Her hand darted up to touch the long scar that ran down the left side of her face. Maybe here were some things that could never heal.

But others…?

She thought of Belos, perched atop his throne of steel. She recalled his nonchalant posture as he’d pointed his staff at her and stole one of the very last things in the world that mattered to her. 

And she’d  _ let _ him.

For the first time in months she felt scorching anger directed at someone other than herself.

Perhaps her battle had only just begun.

_ End of Act I _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i’m halfway through this series now!!!... i still have a lot of work to do


	10. Chapter 10

“Open your eyes, Luz. I’m here. You’re okay.”

_ Amity? _

Luz forced herself to crack her eyes open, though she felt that her strength had been zapped so forcefully she couldn’t even do that. Her skin felt dry, and when she reached up to brush her eyes, she found tears trailing down her cheeks. Her hand shook when she pulled it away. What’d she been crying about?

When she came to her senses, she realized she was looking into the golden eyes of Emira, not Amity. The other three inhabitants of Blight Manor clustered around the two of them, faces dark with concern. “Where’s Amity?” she asked.

“Didn’t you see her?” Emira’s gaze clouded. “Did the spell work?”

_ The spell. _ Memories and images came rushing back to Luz like a torrent, and she was almost knocked off her feet. “I saw her,” she croaked. A wave of dizziness washed over her and she staggered, spots dancing across her vision.

“Whoa, there,” Viney growled. She darted forward to intercept Luz before the human could hit the ground. “Looks like the spell took a lot out of you. You need to rest for a bit. Then you can tell us about what happened.”

Luz gave in, making herself limp so that Viney could nudge her away from the others. “How long was I gone?”

“Like… two seconds, give or take a few.”

_ Two seconds! _ Maybe nothing Luz had seen in the past was real after all. Maybe there was another  _ less devastating _ explanation for Amity’s behavior. After all, how could she have lived that whole week in only two seconds?

_ Time magic, probably. _

Try as she might to conjure excuses, Luz knew from the sheer ferocious intensity of her new memories alone that everything she’d seen had been one hundred percent real. Belos had really set a trap for Amity. Amity had really been cursed.

Amity would really never love her again, unless she, the world’s most inexperienced witch, could find a magical mystery cure. Assuming there was one.

A fresh bout of tears hit the back of her throat, and she wanted nothing more than to collapse to the floor, curl up into a ball, and sob until her head ached too much to remember anything she’d seen. She resisted the urge, though, and let Viney carry her to an expensive-looking velvet chaise lounge in the corner of the library. Once she had been laid down on her side and Viney had pulled up a chair to keep her company, she let out a relieved breath, and her eyes fluttered shut.

“Don’t sleep yet.”

“But…” She was fighting for consciousness now. Images were battering her mind faster than she knew how to process them, and sleep was so tantalizing. Maybe she was sleeping now. Maybe if she could just open her eyes, she’d find herself safely in Amity’s arms again, Gizmo curled on her chest, both contentedly purring.

“I said  _ don’t sleep!” _ Viney repeated, more forcefully this time. “You have to stay awake.”

“You told me to rest.”

“I told you to  _ rest, _ not to  _ sleep. _ If you close your eyes, I can’t be sure they’ll open again. Not to be morbid,” she said quickly, “I’m sure you’ll be fine.” She cupped her hand around her mouth and called to Emira. “Hey, Em! Could you go grab Luz a cup of tea or something? She’ll pass out from dehydration if she’s not careful, and she needs something warm.” She turned back to Luz. “You saw something in the past that hurt you. I can see that. You’re trying to escape your memories now, but I promise, you’ll only make things worse. You need to take a moment to calm down and sort through your feelings.”

“I just want the memories to go away.”

“But you won’t know how to help Amity without them.”

Luz sniffled. “I don’t think I’ll  _ ever  _ know how to help Amity.”

“That’s alright. You don’t need to help her right now. You need to wait this out.” She touched Luz’s shoulder gently. “Whatever it is,” she muttered. “Did this happen the last time you time traveled?”

“No. I’m just tired.” Luz laid her head back and stared up at the wide glass ceiling. Hot sunlight filtered through and hit her face, making her want to close her eyes even more.

“This is why you don’t mess with time magic. More than once. Promise me you won’t do it again. Oh well- I was trained for this moment. I learned healing magic. I can take care of you, whatever this is. I mean- I wanted to be a vet, but I suppose this will have to do.”

“Uh.” What did Viney want her to say? “Thanks.”

The pair fell into silence. Luz rolled over onto her side and stared at the wall, fighting the urge to drift off. She still felt too weak to stand, and her thoughts were sluggish. After a moment, a headache began creeping its way across her temples. She suppressed a groan of frustration. She’d never experienced time travel-induced jet lag this badly before.

A few minutes later, Emira returned and crossed the library towards them. She handed a mug of something steaming hot to Luz, who forced herself to sit up. In her other hand, Emira held a piece of parchment. She passed it to Viney wordlessly. Even with clouded vision, Luz recognized the parchment she’d found on Amity’s old desk- the one containing the Tracing spell.

Viney grunted. “What do I need with this?”

“Read the back,” Emira said breezily. “You’re the healer here. You can deal with that.”

“Yeah, yeah, okay.” Emira turned to go, but Viney raised a hand to stop her. “Hey, you didn’t spike her hot shockolate, right? Do remember she’s only eighteen.”

Emira snorted indignantly. “Of course I didn’t. What do you think I am? Fun?”

Heaving a sigh, Viney rolled her eyes. “Piece of work, that one,” she muttered. “But I love her all the same. Okay, guess I’d better take a look at this.” 

As her companion skimmed the paper, muttering, Luz lifted the mug of Emira’s concoction to her lips. Warm steam bathed her cheeks, and she didn’t realize her hands were still shaking until she was gripping the mug in them. She’d never had hot  _ schockolate _ before. It smelled of chocolate, but there was an unmistakable added tang to it that she didn’t recognize. Maybe Emira had spiked it after all.  _ Whatever keeps the memories away, I suppose, _ she thought wryly.

“Oh, you’ve gotta be kidding me.” Finished reading, Viney rolled up the parchment and tossed it over her shoulder. “A bunch of crap is what that is. Luz, you’ll be fine. Don’t worry about yourself.”

As the warm liquid coursed through Luz’s body, she felt a scrap of strength return to her limbs. Alongside it, what felt like a mild electric current shot up her back, and she shivered. She supposed that was where the  _ shock _ part came from. “What is it?”

“Lots of mumbo jumbo and fancy sciency time magic terms, but it basically boils down to the fact that the weirdo who created the spell didn’t take into account that crunching a whole week of time travel into a couple seconds might throw the spellcaster off a little.” She shrugged. “They call it  _ time crunch,  _ which is like… the dumbest name ever _.  _ It’s the period of sickness after the week ends where your body has to catch up with your mind.”

So it wasn’t just the trauma. “Oh.”

“The scroll says it’ll go away on its own after a few weeks, but there is a cure, which is to combine healing magic with…” Hesitating, the healing witch trailed off. “Yeah, it doesn’t matter. You’ll be back on your feet soon enough.”

“Soon enough doesn’t work for me.” After finishing another sip of her electrifying beverage, Luz leapt to her feet. The maneuver wasn’t as graceful as she’d hoped- she stumbled before catching herself on the arm of the lounge- but she was relieved that she could walk. “I need to find Amity  _ now.” _

“I know you want to help her-”

“And I have to do it as soon as possible. She might listen to me when I tell her what I’ve seen.”

“Listen to your healer, Luz.”

“Viney, I trust you, I really do. And-” More feverish chills hit her, but she gritted her teeth and ignored them. “I’m glad you’re willing to help me. But this is important. I saw stuff in the past that-”  _ don’t cry, please- _ “created very dire consequences. I don’t know how much longer I can wait. And I don’t know how much longer Amity can wait, either. I need to bring her back.”

Viney shook her head “You’re insane. I guess I can’t really stop you, though. I understand how it feels to love someone, and how scared you must be for her right now.” Was it Luz’s imagination, or did Viney glance at Emira, who was huddled with the other two on a couch on the other side of the room, as she spoke? “I’m worried about Amity too. More than I might seem. I’d like you to think before you do anything stupid, but if you want to look for her, all I can ask is to please look out for yourself, too.”

“I will. Thanks, VIney.” Relief filled her chest. She’d been terrified Viney wouldn’t let her go.  _ But Viney cares about Amity too. She wants her back, just like I do. _ Now all she had to do was convince the twins to let her go. Perhaps they would come with her. In her weakened state, she guessed having company would be a good idea.

She wasted no time to make her way over to the others, though her steps were still unsteady. “I’m going to look for Amity,” she announced when she neared them.

Emira jumped up to meet her. “You are? Why? You saw her on the cliff. She wants nothing to do with you. Besides, you-’

“But now I know  _ why  _ she wants nothing to do with me.” Luz interrupted the older girl before she could be forced through a spiel about  _ you shouldn’t leave in this state, you’re sick or something. _ “She was cursed, Emira.”

Edric joined his sister along with Willow, and all three witches’ jaws dropped. “She  _ what?”  _ gasped Edric.

Luz nodded. She stared at the ground. Seeing the heartbreak in their eyes was nearly enough to make her cry again. Her heart grew heavier with each moment that she was left to contemplate what she’d seen, but she told herself to stay strong and keep going. For Amity. For herself. For all of the Isles. “Belos cursed her to never love me again.”

Willow gulped. “Can you even do that?”

“Belos can.”

“I’m not surprised.” Emira’s tone darkened, turning bitter. “That snake-heart. He’ll pay for this. Nobody hurts my sister.” 

Edric nodded in agreement.

“Didn’t Viney say you were sick?” Willow asked. “Chasing after a renegade witch hardly seems like the way to get better.”

There it was. “I can’t let the curse fester any longer. I need to save her. I at least need to  _ try.”  _ It was hard to admit to herself that failure might still be an option. But it couldn’t be- not if she tried hard enough, right? She ignored her pounding headache. “There will be plenty of time for us both to heal. We’ll do it better togather.”

“Okay.” Quick as a flash, Emira took both of Luz’s hands in her own, her standard method of reassurance. “Luz, please.” Her eyes brimmed with tears. “Bring our Mittens home safe. I can’t live in a world where my little sister isn’t herself.”

Luz stared at her, startled.  _ She thinks I’m going alone!  _ “You don’t want to go?”

“She’s acting strangely because of you. I hate to say this, but- you’re probably the only person who can break the curse. I love Amity, but for her sake, I think you need to do this on your own.” She squeezed Luz’s hands once and let go. “Good luck. I’m rooting for you.”

“Thank you.” Luz flashed Edric and Willow a thankful glance. “I’ll start my search somewhere else, then- with the help of someone who has a  _ lot _ of experience with curses.”

~

“Hooty-hoot, hello! Wow, Luz, you look awful.”

“Nice to see you, Hooty.” Luz’s symptoms had worsened ever since she’d left, and once again she could hardly stand. The trek through the forest hadn’t done her any favors. She longed for the comfort of her own home. Hooty swung open for her and she darted inside as fast as her dizzy head would let her go. “Eda!” she yelled. “Eda, I need your help!”

“Sweet Titan, kid,” Eda called back. Luz spotted her instantly. The Owl Lady was clamoring around in the kitchen, her back to the former student. A not-very-tantalizing smell rose from a boiling pot on the stove. “With the racket you’re making, anyone would think Belos had-”

“Belos cursed Amity!”

Something metal clattered to the ground. Eda whirled around. “He  _ what?” _

“He cursed her.” Luz swallowed the lump in her throat and made her way into the kitchen. “You have to help me, Eda. I have to find her as soon as possible and cure her. You know a lot about curses. I  _ need _ to cure Amity. If I don’t, she- she’ll never love me again!” Wailing the last words made her dizzy, so she used one hand to balance herself on the edge of the counter.

Eda raised an eyebrow. “Kiddo, you look like you half-drowned yourself in the ocean and dried yourself on one of the Emperor’s Coven’s tapestries. Anyway, is this actually a curse or is it teenage romance angst?”

She ignored Eda’s astute observation. “It’s real. Please, you have to believe me.”

“I don’t know that much about curses,” Eda admitted. “Only about mine, and there’s still a lot there I don’t know. I’ll help you, though. If there’s something wrong with Amity… well, Luz, I guess I just don’t want to see you hurting. I know how much she means to you.”

“Yeah,” Luz breathed. Dark spots appeared in front of her, and her vision swam. The floor gave out beneath her and she found herself stumbling as Eda’s voice faded into the background.   
“Stars, Luz!”

Strong arms caught her before she hit the ground. Head lolling uselessly to the side, she let out a gentle murmur of appreciation as Eda dragged her away from the kitchen’s hard floor. Maybe Viney was right. Maybe she should have rested. Maybe Amity could wait until this strange time-travel sickness had worn off and she could actually bear to stand… 

_ No. _ She pushed the thought away. Amity couldn’t wait another moment. The curse could be digging deeper and deeper into to heart with every passing moment. With every second that went by, there was another chance that she had already passed the point of no return. Luz needed to get to Amity  _ now. _ She struggled feebly in Eda’s grip. 

Eda sensed the human’s reluctance and squeezed her upper arms harder. “Nope. Not happening. You are sitting down on this couch and you are not going to go off on a witch-hunt until you’re not nearly dying every ten seconds,” she instructed.

“But-” Luz coughed. Even one word took more effort than she was willing to admit, so she sighed and let Eda sit her down on the couch.

“When I was at Hexside, there was a kid who came down with these kinds of symptoms all the time,” Eda went on.

If she’d been able to, Luz would have perked up.  _ Another time traveler? _ Where were they now? Did they have any useful information about-

“He was in the Illusion track, and he was very skilled at teleportation. Problem was, he was a showoff, which meant he teleported a lot farther and faster than he could physically handle. There must have been some sort of dissonance there- couldn’t tell you the specifics. I was a potions kid, not a healer. Anyway, they ended up making him better by infusing healing magic into Abomination goo and giving it to him. Worked like a charm, but… I don’t actually know any Abominations witches that could help you. Other than Willow, of course, but back in the old days when I was a student-” she gave a snort of laughter- “the goo conjured had to be very precisely balanced, ingredients-wise. No offense to Willow, but…”

Luz groaned. So  _ that’s  _ what Viney had neglected to tell her about the cure. Of all the fanfic tropes she’d lived out, this was probably the worst. A mysterious and specific cure that could only be given to her by the very witch who wanted nothing to do with her- and the one she was (probably) in love with at that. “Yes, you do.”

“No I- oh.” 

“Yeah.” Now her head hurt even more. Was Eda  _ sure _ she didn’t know any Abominations witches?

“Well,” the older witch said begrudgingly, “at least you were on your way to find Amity?”

_ Yeah, but is “hey, can you please cure my weird time-travel disease” a good way to lead into “so I know how you got your freaky scar and your freaky curse, and also, Belos probably knows that I used a time travel spell again?” _ She pondered this for a moment. “I guess.”

“Then we're going on a field trip. Think you can ride a staff?”

“I guess.”

“You did say that Amity couldn’t wait another moment. And on the way, you can tell me about her weird curse.” She hesitated. “If you’re feeling up to it.”

Luz didn’t feel up to it at all. But she knew she didn’t have an option. Amity must be cured above all else, she told herself. She’d feel better when she and Amity were working on a cure together.

After all, time was of the essence.


	11. Chapter 11

They’d only been flying for a few minutes when Eda posed a very good question.

“Luz, do you even know where Amity is?”

Luz swallowed nervously. “No.” Being able to rest on Owlbert gave her the opportunity to channel what remained of her strength into speaking. “She was on her way out of town when I saw her last.”

“And when was that?”

“Yesterday.”

“Well, she can’t have gone far.” Eda leaned over to inspect the ground like she expected Amity to be waiting for them here on the outskirts of Bonesborough. 

“She has a staff, too.”

“If she’s wanted by the Emperor,” Eda told her, “she won’t risk flying out in the open. She’ll stick to the dark corners. Trust me.”

“I don’t think she’s a-”

“Oh, we could always use a glyph. You have any paper on you?”

Luz was already straining her ears to hear Eda, so she was sure she must have misheard the older witch. “Huh? Did you say a glyph?” she shouted back.

“I did! I know a very cool spell, you’d be very impressed. Do you have any paper on you?”

“I never go anywhere without it.” Reaching into her pockets, she pulled out a pad of paper and a pen, thrusting them towards Eda. “Here.” She wondered what kind of spell Eda was thinking of using- what kind of glyph was powerful to guide them to Amity? She mentally ran through the spells she knew- the four basic elemental ones, and the two time spells. Of course, it made sense that Eda would be more advanced. She’d had four more years to practice and experiment.

Eda waved her offering away. “Don’t give it to me. I may be a criminal, but I still remember what I learned in flyer’s ed. Don’t cast and drive, right? It’s basic stuff. I’ll tell you what to draw, and you can cast it yourself. Besides, if I get pulled over now, they’ll take me straight to the Conformatorium.”

 _The Conforatrium._ “Right.” Luz’s still-fuzzy mind buzzed as she listened to Eda’s instructions and sketched out the glyph. She knew she still had yet to explain why she was looking for Amity in the first place- why Amity had been cursed. When the glyph was finished, she hesitated before touching it. “Hey, uh… how much do you remember about Willow’s capture?”

Eda seemed astounded that she’d brought it up. “Willow’s capture? Huh, I haven’t thought about that in months. I don’t remember a whole lot, I suppose… the details seem to be escaping me at the moment. But she’s fine now, obviously. She’s still living at the manor with the twins, right?”

“She’s fine now. Do you remember who broke her out of her cell?”

After a moment of silence, Eda shook her head. “There was a lot going on that night.” She sounded strained, though. She seemed bothered that her memories of the rescue had fled her. 

_There’s a reason for that._ Luz debated keeping the truth from her, but eventually gave in. Eda was a strong witch who could handle anything. She’d faced monsters, the law, her own sister (multiple times) and the demanding task of temporarily raising a human. “Would you believe me if I told you that Belos cast a memory spell on you, Lilith, Gus, and the twins so that you wouldn’t remember him letting you free and capturing Amity?”

“Oh, for the Titan’s sake!” seethed Eda. “I wish I were surprised. That makes a lot of sense, though. Old Bonehead's never played fair.” She sounded almost scared when she went on. “How’d you know about it?”

There was no way of getting around the truth. “I time traveled.”

“Again? Didn’t you learn your lesson the first time?”

“Well, this was a different spell…”

If she could see Eda’s face, Luz would have been sure she rolled her eyes. “Is there any other important detail that lazy excuse for a witch would have erased from my mind?”

“I don’t think so. We got to the Comformatorium in the capital, Amity and I rescued Willow, Belos came and revealed that he didn’t actually need Willow and was just trying to lure Amity into his clutches, and then he captured her, monologued about the dangers of keeping knowledge from him, and scarred her. Physically _and_ emotionally.” She shivered. _And now I’m not off that much better._ “He said that cursing Amity was his way of punishing both of us at the same time, since he was taking away someone I loved.”

Luz was quite relieved that it was easier to talk about Amity’s curse around Eda than it had been to talk to Viney or the twins about it. If it had been any of the witches at the manor she’d been relating the story too, she would have surely burst into tears by now. Currently, there was only a very large lump in her throat.

“Oh,” was all Eda had to say. 

“I thought about trying to use the reversing spell Lilith used on you back when you almost got petrified,” she confessed. “But I can’t risk it. I might lose my love for her too. I-” She stopped, suddenly aware of how corny that sounded.

“You’ve still got it that bad, huh?”

“It’s bad, alright. It hurts.” She fidgeted with the corner of the glyph paper. “Can I tap this thing now?”

Eda shrugged. “Just go ahead. Hey, you don’t get motion sickness, right. Well, I mean, you are on a staff…”

“Nothing’s happening,” Luz said after she’d given the glyph two experimental taps. “I don’t think I-”

Then the world was consumed in light.

Luz’s stomach flipped as if she were suddenly weightless. Cracking open her eyes, she nearly shrieked when she realized that she was floating several feet in midair. Around her was a bustling plaza occupied by stands and shoppers and assorted demons. She didn’t recognize her location- the area looked similar to Bonesborough, but at the same time, there was something very un-Bonesborough about it. “Eda, where are we?” she called. There was no answer.

What kind of spell had Eda just made her cast? Try as she might, she couldn’t recognize any faces around here, not even Amity’s. Maybe Eda had made a mistake. Although the intentions of the spell were unclear, the ability to spy like this could hold a lot of power. None of the plaza’s occupants seemed to notice she was even there. It was like she was a ghost. Even more noticeably, she no longer felt sick. The chills had left her skin and her head had stopped spinning.

After a moment, the crowd on the far side of the plaza parted and a witch thrust her way to the front, keeping her eyes straight ahead and her chin up. She wore a hooded black cloak and gripped her white staff in one hand. “I come in search of a certain witch,” she announced. The crowd, clearly interested by the witch’s appearance, pooled around her, passing around excited murmurs.

For a moment Luz stopped breathing. _Amity._

“I’m looking for Luz Noceda, the human,” Amity went on. “Has anyone seen her? She’s very easy to pick out of a crowd. She’s the only one with round ears.”

 _She’s looking for me!_ Was this a vision, or was this happening in real time? Was Amity out there right now, searching for her? _Maybe if Eda had told me more about that spell she had me cast…_ Was this town- whatever this town was- the solution to their search?

More importantly, what did Amity want with her?

Was the curse fading away?

As pleasant as the thought was, Luz made herself dismiss it. Curses didn’t just disappear- at least, she assumed they didn’t. Why would Belos have cast a temporary one? And why would it expire now, of all times? Maybe the curse was only designed to last until the object of the curse reunited with the afflicted. But that didn’t make any sense either. Belos would never be that nice to Amity.

“I haven’t!” one audience member yelled back enthusiastically. 

“Wait, aren’t you the Time Witch?” another shouted. “Guards! Guards! I found the Time Witch!” He darted in a circle, wailing vague accusations and waving his arms.

Eyes narrowed, Amity held up a hand, and the onlooker went silent. “I am no longer under search from Emperor Belos,” she said levelly. “In fact, that’s what I am looking for Luz for. I’d like to inform her that she is no longer wanted, either.”

“Well, I’ve not seen a human in Skulldusky- and nowhere else neither,” the first onlooker confirmed. “My apologies, miss. Best wishes on your search.” He gave Amity a quick dip of his head.

 _Skulldusky._ That’s where Amity was. With that discovery, Luz was once again swept up and deposited on the back of Owlbert like she’d never left.

“Wow,” she whispered when she felt the waves of her time-sickness wash over her again. “That’s certainly a spell.”

“Isn’t it neat?” Eda gushed.

“I would have appreciated if you’d told me what it did before you had me cast it.”

“Since the Blight twins do most of my shopping and whatnot for me, I created that spell so that I could make sure they were making progress and not just goofing off. I’d better make sure it never gets in a certain evil dictator’s hands- I’m sure he’d love to have a handy spying spell like that. Anyway, did you find out where Amity is?”

Luz racked her brain. What had the town’s name been, again? “Skulldusky,” she said.

“Great! That’s only a ten minute flight away, if we break a traffic law or two.”

“Amity, she’s… she’s looking for me.”

Eda leaned forward, making Owlbert increase his speed and making Luz’s stomach do more flips than King’s Snaggleback coaster. “Looking for you, you say? Why?”

“She wants to tell me that Belos doesn’t want me anymore.” _Though why she didn’t tell me earlier is beyond me._

Eda gave a small disbelieving grunt, but said nothing.

Soon Luz spotted the _Welcome to Skulldusky_ sign below her. This is without a doubt where she’d seen Amity in her… vision? Dream? By now, though, the crowd had dispersed. Amity, however, had gone nowhere- she was poised on a bench just outside a shop, swiftly looking over all the witches that passed her by. 

Her heart pounded as they neared. Amity looked just as cold and stoic as she had when they’d met earlier that day. Had that encounter really only been earlier that day? _Then why is she still looking for me?_ Her chilling gaze met Luz’s before they dismounted, but she neglected to speak until Luz had neared.

“Luz,” she said. The human winced at the lack of emotion in her tone. Did not loving her anymore hurt? Or did it feel natural, a frigid neutrality that was ingrained into her as deeply as her knowledge of magic?

“Hi, Amity.” Suddenly, her head hurt even more.

“I’ve been meaning to speak with you.”

Luz tilted her head. “You talked to me this morning.” 

“I’m going to go… shop,” Eda muttered and ducked away. She gave Luz a small wave. “Uh… good luck.”

“I’ve more to say.” Amity ignored Eda. She was looking at Luz as if they were the only two in the world- but there was something so primally _wrong_ about it that Luz couldn’t help but feel deeply uncomfortable. Her expression lacked everything that made her look like Amity. 

Luz realized that she was staring into the eyes of a complete stranger. “Well, I’ve been meaning to talk to you too.”

“Go ahead, then.” When she blinked at Amity in surprise, Amity scowled. “Well? Spit it out.”

“I know what happened to you.”

Luz studied Amity’s face for a flash of surprise, of recognition, of anything- but there was nothing there aside from the cold disinterest Belos had promised her when he’d aimed his staff at her and stripped her of her love. “Oh,” Amity said. “So you found the time spell on my desk.”

“Why did you leave it there?”

“Because I wanted you to know if something happened to me and I wasn’t around to tell you. I don’t care now.” She looked down at her feet and crossed her arms in front of her. “It doesn’t matter anymore.”

“Yes, it does.” She battled the instinct to reach out and take Amity’s hands in her own, just like she’d done when they were girlfriends. “Amity, this isn’t you. Can’t you see that? I don’t know how to fix your curse, but- but maybe you do. You used to love me. When we were younger, I doubted that, because I thought I wasn’t deserving of it. But now… seeing what happened in the throne room, I know it was true. No matter what the voices in my head tell me. It was true. Look- look inside yourself. It has to be down there somewhere, doesn’t it? Belos can’t have stolen it completely.”

“Well, he did,” Amity snapped. “Sorry. There’s nothing you can do about it.”

“Maybe I can study curses. The Blight library has tons of scrolls- now that Emira’s head of the family, she’s made sure of that, obviously. There’s got to be something there-”

“It’s not a curse.”

Amity’s voice was so quiet Luz was sure she hadn’t heard her correctly. “Huh?”

“I said-” Amity straightened herself- “it’s not a curse.”

“Huh?”

“It’s a _blessing_.”

“What?” Luz yelped. Amity’s words felt like an icicle had been stabbed straight through her heart. A blessing? Was Amity completely insane? She blinked rapidly for a moment, trying to center herself. “You can’t mean that!”

“Open up your eyes, Luz. Look around.” A frown deepened on Amity’s features, but now Luz knew that it had nothing to do with her. “The Isles are a cold and unforgiving place. This isn’t the sweet fantasy land you’ve always dreamed about. Loving you is what got me into this mess- tampering with time, being wanted, being unable to join a coven. I explained this all to you this morning. I shouldn’t have to repeat myself.”

“But- when Belos attacked you- you were so-”

“I’ve had time to think about it,” Amity interrupted, “and I’ve come to realize this. I don’t _want_ to be healed. I’m better off on my own. I feel whole now- so don’t waste your time on trying to fix me. There are much better things that you could be doing.”

“I-” Luz gasped, and her knees buckled underneath her. She wasn’t sure whether it was the shock of Amity’s words or the time-sickness that had finally driven her to the ground. Fire raced through her nerves. _Am I dying?_ She managed a weak glance up at Amity, who was stone-faced as ever.

Unlike Viney, or Eda, or anyone who’d witnessed the worst of her symptoms, Amity made no move to help her. “So you’re afflicted with the time disease,” she said. “I should have known. You looked strange and pale.”

Luz gulped. “You have to help me. I need an Abomination.”

“I need to combine it with healing magic first. Perhaps I should accompany you back to Blight Manor and complete the spell with Viney.”

“You- you’ll really help me?” Maybe there _was_ a glimmer of hope somewhere inside Amity’s darkened heart. She simply needed to find it. She summoned as much strength as she good before toppling back onto the pavement.

“Of course. I may not want you to waste your time fighting Belos’ spell, but I would not refuse a fellow witch help.”

“Thank you,” Luz coughed. She tried to stand once more before she gave in and let unconsciousness claim her.

~

“Is she even alive?”

“Of course she is. Time travel can’t kill you.”

“How do you know?”

“I’ve done it, of course.”

The sound of voices woke Luz what felt like a century later. When she blinked open her eyes, she was back on the lounge in the library, but this time, both Amity and Viney were hunched over her, one with much more concern written over her face than the other. Willow and the twins were sitting a few feet away. 

Viney grinned when she saw that Luz had awoken. “Ha! I told you! She was alright!”

Amity nodded. “So you did.”

Luz was equally as startled to find that strength had at last returned to her. She opened and closed one fist in turn, then brought herself into a sitting position. The chills, dizziness, and nausea had gone, and she felt more wide awake then ever. The only uncomfortable sensation she felt now was the bitter flavor sticking to her tongue. So that’s what abomination goo tasted like. “Wow,” she breathed. She glanced between the two witches. “I can’t believe it.” _I can’t believe Amity actually helped._ Then Amity’s declarations came rushing back to her, and her spirits dropped again. _But she doesn’t want me to help her._

“Thanks for your help, Amity,” said Viney. “She’s all better, yup. Now you can be on your way. Do your important, uh- feral-witchy things.”

Amity smiled. It was a small smile, and the first Luz had seen her crack in this horrifying present- but it was off all the same, as blank and vacant as she’d come to expect from her former girlfriend. “I’d hate to overstay my welcome,” she agreed graciously. “But Luz had led me right where I wanted to be. Isn’t that right, Luz? I was afraid you wouldn’t let me in on my own- not now that you know what’s happened to me.”

Just when her thoughts had finally cleared, Luz found herself befuddled again. “Wait, what? You wanted to be here?” Was Amity rejoining the Blights? _Maybe healing me healed her, too!_

“I did. But not for you.” She turned in a circle until she’d settled her sights on her sister. She stepped towards Emira slowly, like an animal creeping up on its prey. Emira’s expression went dark with nervousness. Paralyzed, she pressed herself further back in her chair. Luz itched to intercept her, but curiousness weighed her down. Whatever Amity was doing, it couldn’t have been out of malice.

“Emira,” Amity declared, “I challenge you to a witch’s duel- for the position of head of the Blight family.”


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it really do b like that sometimes
> 
> tw for a little violence in this one

“‘Head of the Family began to be regarded as a prestigious title, especially in the Isles’ upper classes, shortly after Emperor Belos rose to power in the year 0 A.C (After Covens.) Before this, the title merely provided an indication of which family member was in charge of the family’s finances, and the name of which the family was referred to. Now, the Head of the Family controls every detail of their family’s name, including but not limited to: those who may name themselves a part of the family, the family’s relations with others, and the Covens of its members. It was limited to male witches for many years, but has lately been changed to include witches of any gender. In 10 A.C, Emperor Belos made a doctrine detailing the official rules regarding the shift of power from one family member to another. This included the formal declaration of intention to duel, a fight sanctioned by a third, unbiased member, and a peaceful transition of power, should both participants survive.’ Luz, are you even listening? This is really important!”

“Mhm, yeah,” Luz said. She only half-heard Emira’s words. There were so many bookshelves here, and it was hard enough to focus on finding the book she wanted when Emira was droning in her ear. She’d already skimmed all the books about curses, and had now moved on to books about Emperor Belos, in case details about Amity’s curse could be specifically tied to him. So far she’d found nothing, and the books on Belos were unsurprisingly but annoyingly rife with clear bias. How could she find a book on Belos’ less-than-humane punishments when each and every one referred to him only as _“the grand and esteemed Emperor of the Isles, the Savior of Magic”_?

“I’m running out of time. Amity wants to meet me at the covention center at dusk, remember? What are you looking for, anyway?”

“Information about Belos.” With a frustrated sigh, she slid the book she was looking at- _The Coven System, A History-_ back onto the shelf. “Amity told me specifically to _not_ cure her. But I won’t stop looking for a way to help. There’s still a little bit of Amity in there somewhere, I know it- I just don’t know how to get to her. I figured if I tried to research Belos, I’d find something about his curse and maybe a reversal for it. But it’s all the same stuff. ‘Emperor Belos fairly and justly challenged Emperor Earth, the Keeper of the Texts and Commander of Written Word, for the throne, completed the Silent Trial, and rose into power, becoming the greatest and most just ruler the Boiling Isles have ever seen.’ And he’s also immortal, apparently. How convenient for us. If I don’t deal with him, you’ll have to live under his rule forever.”

Emira scoffed. “The way power’s passed around in this place is absolutely crazy. _‘Should both participants survive?’_ Who came up with these rules?”

“Uh… Belos did.”

“Girl, you need to take him down one of these days. This is getting ridiculous.”

“I don’t think I can.” Luz ran one hand through her hair and briefly closed her eyes. “Sure, I’ve fought him before. But I’ve never come close to defeating him. It’s not even possible, I bet. He’s the most powerful witch on the Isles.”

“He may be powerful,” Emira put in, “but you’re smart. And you know how to do time magic. He doesn't, right? Isn’t that like, his whole thing? ‘The human has the forbidden knowledge, wow, look, I’m so scary. I’m going to traumatize her girlfriend and by extension the rest of her family and they’re going to have to learn how to use humor to cope because they’ll never be able to come to terms with the fact that one of the most essential parts of their little Mittens has been brutally stolen from her.’”

“I can’t time travel to defeat him. Besides, he can’t die! What’s the point?”

“Just because he’s immortal doesn’t mean he can’t die. _Every_ Emperor of the Isles has been immortal. That power is passed on if they’re killed in the Silent Trial.” 

“So if I do defeat Belos, all I have to do is sacrifice my mortality and rule the Isles myself,” Luz said. “Wow, that’s certainly a variable to add to the equation.” 

Emira shut the book she’d been reading from and slid it back onto the shelf. “I wouldn’t worry about that,” she said optimistically. “There’ll be time to figure out that plan later. Right now, I need your help. You know Amity just as well as I do, and we should discuss-”

“Her motives, I know,” Luz huffed. “I’m sorry. I don’t understand why she’s doing this. Maybe… maybe she just wants to feel like a real Blight again, since she’s not wanted by the Coven anymore.”

“She’s not, but Edric and I are,” Emira reminded her. “Not to mention Willow and Viney, who are basically honorary Blights at this point. The family’s kind of… in a state of disarray at the moment. The only reason we’ve been let off the hook so far is because the name is enough to warrant power. I mean, after I made Mom and Dad change their name…” She trailed off. “It’s not like they’re hunting us, since they’ve got nothing to gain.”

“I guess.” Luz wanted as much as anything to be able to help Emira, but she was beyond stumped. Why _did_ Amity want to challenge Emira? _To kick the twins out?_

_No, that couldn’t be it. Amity still loves her siblings. She has to. The curse shouldn’t have affected them. And they’re still wild witches, just like her._

And- a bit less importantly, but still a nagging question- had Amity lied about wanting to help her?

_What if I was wrong? What if there’s no hope left at all for Amity?_

_What if she really is gone?_

“I don’t know,” she repeated. “I don’t think there’s much we can do about that before sundown. Whatever she wants out of this, it shouldn’t affect her performance.”

Emira looked up at the rapidly setting sun, its bright rays visible through the domed glass ceiling of the library. “Then I guess I’ll just have to train hard.”

~

The town’s covention center was one thing that hadn’t changed between Luz’s departure and return. Walking through the darkened hallways stirred up strong memories- and today, their emotional effects were hard to repress. She saw the spot where Amity had stomped on King’s cupcake- or at least she thought it was the same spot. So much had happened since then that it was hard to tell. She remembered where Amity had stalked up to her, her face mere inches away from her own, and murmured a sly, simple _“I accept.”_ Those two words had sent shivers up fourteen-year-old Luz’s back. It had taken her a while to figure out why. 

Edric had joined Luz and Emira on their grim journey to the arena as the officiator of the duel. They’d designated Viney and Willow as the protectors of the manor in case Amity had planned for some kind of retaliation while they were gone. Luz had almost been offended when Emira suggested this, but eventually agreed, deciding that while Amity’s motives were as unclear as they were, it was good to have a defense in place. She wasn’t sure who would attack the manor while they were gone- Amity didn’t seem to have any outside allies at the moment- but they’d be better safe than sorry.

Two Emperor’s Guards met them outside of the entrance to the arena. “Good luck,” one of the said gruffly as Luz and the twins passed. The other gave them a nod. _They could capture us right now,_ Luz realized, _but they won’t, because capturing members of such a powerful family wouldn’t look very good for them._

The arena was dark, the stands empty, the silence almost tangible. A solitary light over the center of the sandy platform was on, and from the top of the stands, Luz saw that someone was already waiting for them in the center. Amity remained unresponsive to their arrival. Maybe she hadn’t seen them yet.

Emira had clearly spotted her, though, and she stopped in her tracks at the top of the stairs. “Luz, Edric,” she whispered, not taking her eyes off her sister. “I don’t know what’s going to happen once I get down there, but if I don’t get a chance to tell you later, I want you to know that I love you both very much.” She turned to her brother. “Edric, I’d like to thank you for being the best brother you can be, and for being my partner in crime for so many years. And Luz.” She turned to the human. Her eyes glimmered, though whether with thankfulness or sadness Luz wasn’t sure. “Thank you for being like another little sister to me. And you’ve been such a light in Amity’s life. Thank you for making her journey a little less painful.”

“Emira, stop,” Luz choked out. She fell forwards, wrapping her in a tight hug. “You’re talking like you’re going to die. Amity won’t kill you. She loves you.”

“Amity is a skilled fighter, and she clearly wants this. There’s no telling what she’ll do.” The older witch’s voice broke as she distangled Luz’s arms with her own. “But I will try to be safe. I’ll fight for this family.”

Luz sniffled when she pulled away from Emira’s embrace at last. “I’ll see you soon, then?” she asked hopefully.

“Only the stars know.”

“You can do this, big sis,” Edric said with a wink.

“I am not younger than you,” Emira replied with a roll of her eyes. Her good humor didn’t betray her nervousness, though, and she paled with fear when she began her descent down the stairs and into the arena. Edric was practically glued at her side, and when she looked back over her shoulder, her eyes briefly met Luz’s.

“Good luck,” Luz whispered, but both Blights were already out of earshot.

She stayed there, standing rigidly at the top of the staircase, as Edric read the rules he’d been practicing on memorizing all afternoon. The sisters faced each other, each gripping their staff tightly in one hand. She was reminded with a rush of the last time she’d watched two sisters duel on those very sands. Hopefully this fight would be as bloodless as that one had been.

“By accordance of the Titan and of Emperor Belos, deliverer of His will, I hereby officiate this duel on the Blight family name. Amity Blight,” Edric said, nodding to the younger of the two challengers. “you challenge Emira Blight for the title of Head of the Family. Emira, do you consent to this?”

“I’m under an Everlasting Oath,” Emira answered, somewhat dryly. “I have no choice. Yes, I agree to the terms of the duel.”

Amity had put Emira under an Everlasting Oath? Uneasiness swirled in Luz’s stomach. _Amity must really want this. But what for?_

The fact that she had no answer for the question was what scared her the most.

“Then let the duel begin,” Edric announced. 

Emira had no time to move. Gizmo launched herself off of Amity’s staff and soared through the air, extending her claws and landing squarely on her face with a sharp yowl. Emira cried out and tried to pull the little cat off her face, but her claws had dug in deeply. Luz winced as she watched- and as powerless as she felt, she felt even more powerless to see Amity a few feet away, motionless, mouth curled into a smug smirk. When Gizmo finally let go and slid to the ground, mewling, Emira was left with a long scratch on the right side of her face- one that perfectly mirrored her sister’s. A deep-seated chill wound its way into Luz’s core.

“I thought we’d agreed to settle this with magic.” Emira gingerly pressed her sleeve against her face for a moment before leveraging her own staff at Amity and releasing a ray of sky-blue magic. The blow didn’t directly strike her, though- instead it split off into smaller threads which eventually formed into exact copies of Emira, each with their own staff and their own magic. The Illusions sent a barrage of spells in Amity’s direction.

Amity growled as she fended them away one by one. After a moment, they became too numerous to dodge on her own. “Abomination, rise,” she snapped. An Abomination three times Amity’s height rose from the sand, groaning. Luz had to tilt her head up to see all of it.

Emira turned and dashed towards the wall, but the abomination was far too tall for her to escape. It collasped on top of her, knocking her to the ground and covering her in purple sticky goop. For a moment, she lay unmoving. Luz’s heart skipped a beat.

Then she stood. Fury had darkened her gaze. “I don’t know what you’re here for,” she snarled, “but the Blights are mine.” Her voice cracked. “You’re not the Mittens I thought I knew.”

Amity still held a calm and composed appearance. “I need the title to fulfill my duty to myself, Em. I’m sorry it has to be this way. But you’re not willing to give it up peacefully, so I’m going to have to fight for it.”

Emira lifted her chin. “And I’ll fight to keep my family safe.”

“They’re not in danger.” She stepped closer to her sister. Purple goop spattered her cloak like bloodstains, and there was a crazed look in her eyes. “I’m not here to cause harm.”

Emira stopped and dropped her staff mid-attack. “Then why are we fighting?”

 _And why don’t I believe you?_ Luz added silently.

“Because we must.” 

“We don’t have to. I’ll let you live in Blight Manor with us. That’s what I’ve wanted all along, you know. You can be a part of your family if you’d just let yourself in.”

“I alone must have control. Blight Manor is a place of seclusion, but for the time being, I need that seclusion for myself.”

“So you just want to kick us out of our house? That’s what this is all about?”

“I don’t want it to have to be this way,” Amity repeated. 

“You don’t want this? You don’t _want_ to upend us? You don’t want to antagonize us, the only allies you have left? Very well, then!” With a trill from her palisman, Trixie, Emira pointed her staff squarely at Amity’s heart. “Let’s see how welcoming I’ll be to you when I beat you in this illicit duel!” 

The force of the blast that shot from her staff shook the entire arena. Even from several yards away, Luz could still feel the heat from the blaze on her face. Fear leapt in her. If it hit Amity, she’d be done for.

For a split second, Amity didn’t so much as flinch.

Quick as a blink of an eye, a thick glass shield formed around her and the blast of magic bounced off of it, leaving cracks in the surface. It careened in the other direction, heading straight for Emira, who could do nothing but watch in terror as her fate was sealed for her.

She was sent sprawling across the ground when the attack landed.

A frosty silence fell over the auditorium.

“Wait!” Amity wailed. She put down the shield and flew to her sister’s side, crouching next to her unmoving form. “Emira! Emira, I’m sorry! I take it back! You can have the title, I don’t need it. I don’t need it if I don’t have you.” Her voice caught on a sob. “Em, please.”

Stunned into stillness, Luz could only look on.

In that instant, something died within her.

It felt strangely like hope.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i’ve decided that the new theme song for this fic is fix you by coldplay- it fits the story so well and i didn’t even realize it until now wjdhfhxgxhs

Amity’s grief lasted only for a moment. She regained her composure as quickly as she had lost it, and fixed her fiery glare on Edric before swiveling it to Luz, who was still frozen at the top of the stairs. “Well?” she snapped. “Aren’t you going to do anything? Or are you just going to stand there and watch?”

Luz swallowed. As she descended towards the sandy arena, she felt as if she was weightless. Her surroundings waved and whirled around her like a bizarre, twisted dreamscape. She wasn’t a healer. She knew, though, that she couldn't risk Amity’s anger at her. They were already treading too lightly around each other. 

And if Emira wasn’t beyond saving… she knew she had to try.

_ Viney should have come with us.  _ She felt sick to her stomach at the oversight. Why wouldn’t she have thought to bring a healer to a duel?

When she knelt with Edric next to Emira, she held a shaking hand out to touch her wrist. There was a faint pulse underneath the skin. Pushing down a twinge of hopefulness, she touched the bottom of Emira’s neck. As she did, she saw that the older witch’s chest was still rising and falling. She was definitely alive- although she didn’t look it, splayed out at an awkward angle, eyes glazed and staring sightlessly at the ceiling.

“She’s still breathing,” Luz said. “Maybe-”

A low growl rumbled in Amity’s throat. “I know that. I  _ wanted  _ you to call Viney and tell her to come here. I don’t have a scroll anymore, and we need  _ someone  _ to heal her.”

Luz hesitated. “I don’t know if Emira has enough time-”

“I’ll do it,” Edric volunteered quickly. He’d been strangely silent, as though he couldn’t quite process the dire condition his sister was in. But now he stepped forward bravely, with only a slight tremor in his voice.

Amity’s muscles visibly relaxed. “All right, then. Get on with it.”

As Edric stepped away from the others to make his call, Amity looked back at her sister with a heavy sigh. Sorrow darkened her eyes. Luz blinked at her. She hadn’t seen her display this much emotion since… before she was cursed. Belos had promised that the only thing he was removing was her love for her Luz, but Luz still wondered if that were true. Now she knew it was. She could only imagine what Amity must be feeling right now. To lose a family member, especially one who had been such a close ally… she pictured her mother, Camila, in her mind, and wondered what she’d do if she lost her. The mere idea was jarring.

Amity began to murmur quietly to her sister, and she drew a finger softly down the scratch on the right side of Emira’s face, from her ear to her jaw. It was uncannily similar to the one across her own cheek. Emira’s, being a shallow claw wound, would surely heal, but until then it would serve as nothing but a grim reminder of the rift that had been driven between the two Blight sisters.

“I never should have challenged her,” Amity whispered. She didn’t look up, but Luz knew the words were for her. 

“Maybe you shouldn’t have. Mind explaining why you did anyway?”

“Yes, actually.”

“Fair enough.”

Neither girl said anything for a long while. They could hear Edric a few yards away, talking to Viney in a hushed, urgent tone, but they didn’t dare break the near-silence. Luz continued to watch Emira gently breathe. She wished she knew any healing glyph, even just a simple one, but she hadn’t been on the Isles long enough to experiment with healing magic.

With every passing moment- and every moment that didn’t mark itself with Viney’s arrival- the dread in the air grew thicker. Perhaps she was imagining it, but Luz could have sworn Emira’s breathing was growing shallower by the second. Amity was clearly aware of this too. Despair was marked across her scarred face, and her golden eyes were dark. 

Luz broke the silence. “We need to give Edric some space, and Viney too, once she gets here. Maybe we should go.”

Amity’s head snapped up with surprise.

Luz couldn’t fathom for the life of her where those words had come from. Was she crazy? Was she on a suicide mission? The last thing she needed for herself was to bait Amity- grieving and angry, no less- so spend time with her alone. But she was quickly losing hope for Emira. Perhaps Amity’s grief had humbled her. Perhaps she’d finally realize now that she’d loved Luz all along. 

_ No. That’s a selfish thought. _

She expected Amity to shoot the idea down. She expected a fierce scowl, a few mutters about how stupid she was. What she didn’t expect was for Amity to offer her a very unenthused “sure.”

“Really?” Luz blinked incredulously at her. 

“Whatever is out there is probably better than what’s in here.”

“Okay.” Now her nerves were buzzing with energy, her fear for Emira temporarily pushed to the back of her mind. Selfish or not as she was, Amity seemed to be improving.  _ I hope she stays better once Viney heals Emira. _

_ Then we can be together- and she can help me with the Belos problem… _

“Where are we going?” Amity said, jolting Luz out of her thoughts.

“I have an idea. It’ll take your mind off things.”

Amity’s expression was blank. “Okay.”

Luz shoved away a pang of bitterness. A long time ago, Amity would have been ecstatic to go out on an outing with her. But this wasn’t four years ago- this was now, with problems that were very much a part of her present.  _ I’m better with dealing with the past than the present,  _ she thought to herself.  _ This is a whole new set of challenges I’m not ready to deal with on my own.  _ She spared a glance at her former girlfriend.  _ And I need her help, or I don’t stand a chance. _

“Hey Amity, do you know where I can get a knife?”

~

Being a wild witch now thoroughly experienced with conning and thievery (why Amity still lived her life on the run, Luz had no idea, though she claimed that the local Coven officers had no idea she’d been let off the hook), Amity was easily able to nab a carving knife from an unsuspecting townie as they strode through Bonesborough. Luz had specified quickly that she needed a carving knife, not an actual knife used for stabbing. She’d seen enough casualties that day. 

As she turned the gleaming blade over in her hands, she was struck by the realization that this was the kindest thing Amity had done for her since she’d been cursed. Maybe Amity  _ was _ getting better. Maybe the curse was receding, slowly perhaps, but there was no doubt she would be returned to her old self soon. “Thank you,” Luz said with a nod.

Amity’s voice was frosty. “It’s not like I have anything else to do.”

“You will when we get to where we’re going.”

“And where’s that?”

“You’ll see.” Revealing their destination with Amity still in a far-away, grief-blurred state could easily upset her, so Luz kept her mouth shut.

Amity nodded to the knife. “Are you carving your palisman with that?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because that’s how you make palismans.”  _ I watched you carve yours. _

“No, I mean- why now?”

“Because I’ll need it soon.”

“What for?”

In any other circumstance, Luz would have relished all the attention Amity was giving her, but today she knew that all Amity wanted was to take her mind off her sister’s plight. At the same time, she wondered if it was wise to tell her about the real reason she’d come here- her true objective, to bring an end to Emperor Belos’ terrible reign. Amity could surely be trusted, but… would she even care? Or would she just shrug her shoulders and nonchalantly watch Luz risk her life?

Maybe it would be better not to know.

“We’re here,” she announced a few minutes later when they scaled the cliff. Amity didn’t visibly react. She tilted her head back to take in the sprawling grandeur of the Grom tree for probably the billionth time, but it was as if Luz was showing her a pebble on the ground.

“You’re going to carve your palisman out of this?”

“Yes. Just like you did.”

“I did.” The confirmation sounded almost more like a question- like Amity was uncertain of her own memories.

“Do you remember our dance?” Luz asked what she settled down on the left-blanketed ground.

“You don’t know how to carve,” Amity said, avoiding the question.

“I’ll figure it out.”

“Okay.” She settled down next to Luz, who was cutting a chunk out of the soft white bark. She was silent for a moment. Hesitantly, she added, “I do remember the dance.”

“What about it?”

“Luz, you’re not going to reverse the spell by getting me to reminisce.”

Luz shrugged. “I can try.”

“You know how I feel about it.” She kicked at a pile of leaf litter between her feet. “I feel freer than I have in months.”

From the crack in her voice, and in her demeanor, Luz could tell that Amity was lying. Gone was the vengeful stranger from the Bonesborough alleyways and the apathetic shell of her former self from Skulldusky. Here, broken and reeling from the loss of Emira, she just seemed… empty. Luz’s heart went out to the other witch. “What does it feel like?” she managed to ask. “Does it hurt?”

“Does what hurt?”

“The curse.” She swallowed. “Not… being able to feel.”

“It doesn’t hurt.” Amity tore her eyes away from Luz’s carving and focused on the ground. “And that’s what scares me.”

“Oh.”

“I thought it would hurt. I thought I’d look at you and just… be overwhelmed with longing. But that’s not how it works. I’m not overwhelmed whenever you’re around. It’s like everything inside of me just… freezes. I know you’re there, I just… it’s like I can’t really see you. I recognize that you’re Luz- and I recognize that you once meant the world to me- but…”

“Amity.”

“Yes?”

“You put the glyph for that time spell on your desk on purpose, right?”

Amity nodded. “Whisper’s Tracing spell. Yes, I remember that. I put it there for you to find in case something happened to me and you couldn’t find me. If I got captured, jailed, petrified… whatever. That way, you could still know where I was.”

It may have been a trick of the light, but it almost appeared that Amity’s eyes had begun to glisten with tears.

“And you did use it. And now you know. And you want to help me.” She gulped and used one sleeve of her tattered jacket to wipe at her cheeks. “And I don’t care that you’re here. I don’t care that you want to reverse the spell and fix me. I don’t feel grateful, or relieved, or anything. And that’s what hurts most of all.” A few tears trailed down her cheeks, leaving red trails on her pale skin. “Belos was right. This is the worst punishment he could have possibly given me.”

“Oh, Amity.” Sympathy crashed like a tsunami over Luz, and, putting down the wood and knife, she held out her arms. To her surprise, Amity collapsed into them. The sensation of holding Amity like this was achingly familiar, like a memory that sat just out of the grasp of her consciousness. “If you don’t mind telling me…” she said softly as she reached up to touch Amity’s hair, “why didn’t you just tell me this before? Why did you say you didn’t want me to heal you?”

“I was…” Amity trailed off. “I’m not sure. Seeing you for the first time, all of a sudden, after so long… I was defensive. I’m sorry. I should have told you the truth sooner. I’ve never felt like I was blessed. I just couldn't handle being so far away from you, and yet...”

_ And yet barely a whisper away.  _ “It’s okay.”  _ I’ll heal you yet. I promise,  _ she swore silently.

Amity lifted her head off of her shoulder. From the blank expression on her face, Luz could instantly tell that her comfort had meant nothing. When Amity shifted away, she leaned back against the trunk of the tree with a heavy sigh. “Go ahead and finish your carving,” she murmured. 

“Alright.”

For the next few minutes, they fell into silence. It wasn’t quite comfortable, but it wasn’t awkward, either. Luz’s palisman wasn’t perfect, but as she spent more and more time carving out the tiny details on its feathers, talons, and tail, the more she liked the look of it. It was a regal animal, with a fierce but soft expression. It reminded her of Amity, in a way.

When the palisman and staff were finished and put together, Luz held her creation up to catch the fading dusk light. “It’s finished.”

Amity blinked at it. “It’s a griffon.”

“Her name is Amor.”

“Amor,” the other witch echoed.

“I’m going to take down Belos,” she blurted. “That's why I need a staff. It’s easier to do magic with than just using glyphs.”

“I figured you would try that eventually.”

“That’s why Eda brought me here. She said I was the Isles’ only hope.” Luz got to her feet and held out her hand. “And when I heal you, I want you to fight with me.”

“Okay,” Amity said, her voice thin. She accepted Luz’s hand and staggered up next to her.

_ She doesn’t believe that she  _ will _ be healed. _

“Luz, I just want you to know that…” She shook her head. “Never mind. It’ll be fine. If there’s no news of Emira, I need to get back to Blight Manor.”

Maybe Amity’s luck was cursed, too.

As soon as the words had left her lips, Luz spotted a figure approaching them from over the slope of the cliff. As he drew closer, she picked out bright green hair and a tear streaked face. Her heart plummeted.  _ Oh, no. _

“Amity. Luz.” Edric was panting when he halted. “Please come back to the auditorium. We need you right now.”

“Emira,” Amity said. Her eyes went wide. “Is she…”

Edric nodded slowly. The heartbreak on his face told Luz all she needed to know.

~

Hardly a second had passed between the time they entered the convention center and when Amity fell to her knees at her sister’s side.

Viney sat beside Emira’s unmoving body, eyes dark, face gray with exhaustion. “I’m sorry. I tried my best,” she croaked.

“Emira!” Amity choked. She traced a desperate hand along Emira’s face before she turned her face to the sky. “Titan! Why would you take her from me?” She turned to Viney. Her stare blazed with anger. “Why didn’t you save her?”

“I told you. I tried.”

“Well, you didn’t try hard enough,” Amity snapped. She bowed her head and sobbed quietly. “I can’t do this without her.”

Luz was speechless. She wanted to reach out and help Amity, but her own devastation threatened to knock her feet out from under her. Cheerful, cunning, loyal Emira was gone. She was really just… gone. A hollow formed in her stomach. She’d lost both Blight sisters now. 

If only she could burden Amity’s pain for her. Then one of the two might still be salvageable. 

_ Share her pain… _

“Wait,” she broke in. “I have an idea.”

“You can’t bring witches back from the dead, Luz,” Amity said bitterly. 

“I can’t. But there was someone else…” Idea taking shape in her mind, she told them about Lilith’s spell, the magical blessing she’d seen the younger Clawthorne use as a way to level out her sister’s curse. “I can’t do it myself,” she told them, “and I don’t know if it will work… in this circumstance. But it’s worth a shot, right?”

Amity shivered. “Wouldn’t that kill me?”

“I don’t know. That’s why-”

“I’ll do it,” Edric broke in. “For my sister. If we have any chance of saving her.” His tone betrayed no nervousness, only unrestrained determination. 

“If you’re sure.”

“I am.” He knelt down next to Emira’s chest and placed a hand over her heart. “I hope I’m saying this right.” He took a deep breath. “With this spell declared, let the pain be shared.”

Then he went limp, hitting the sand with a thump.

Viney rushed to his side. “Not another one,” she growled. She stared in shock as she tested for a pulse. “He’s still breathing.”

“Look,” Amity whispered shakily. She lifted a trembling arm to point at Emira. Sure enough, when Luz looked, she saw the gentle rise and fall of Emira’s chest, and the faint flicker of her eyelids.   
“Woah.”

“You did it,” Amity breathed. Light danced in her eyes as she looked at Luz. “You saved them. I don’t  _ feel  _ thankful, but… I am. Somewhere in there.” 

“I can’t believe it either.” She looked back at the Blight twins, stunned and unnerved by the guilt she’d seen in Amity’s bright gaze.

She’d overcome one of the present’s horrifying challenges- but what lay in store for her?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> no, luz is not going to use that spell on amity’s curse, they’d end up hating each other 
> 
> if you draw fanart for this fic (or rectification) i will literally marry you (thank you to my pal rainbowjeff for letting me steal that lol)


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 👁👄👁

“Amity wanted Blight Manor so that she could _ throw a party?” _

Luz stared incredulously down at the piece of paper in her hands. It was a delicate, nearly transparent piece of parchment emblazoned with rows of shimming gold script. 

_ Your presence is politely requested at a Ball at Blight Manor, on the Nineteenth of September 2024 from Sundown until Dawn, to honor the appointment of Amity Blight as Head of the Blight Family. _

_ Formal dress required. _

_ Plus ones not allowed. _

_ Please send your palisman to RSVP. _

The tiny white cat that had delivered it had leapt out of the window already, leaving her to wonder if it had been anything more than an apparition.

Emira lifted her head sleepily from the arm of the couch. “It’s customary for newly appointed Heads of the Family to throw a ball as an official acknowledgement of their new position,” she told Luz before laying back down and shutting her eyes. 

She didn’t sound bitter at all, but Edric, who was confined to the armchair on the other side of the living room, seemed about to burst with fury. “There shouldn’t even  _ be _ a party,” he seethed. “Amity shouldn’t be in charge of anything. She killed you! Have you forgiven her, just like that? Or did you forget?” He winced as his voice rose in volume. He muttered a quiet “ouch” and pressed his hand to his temple.

“She didn’t kill me all the way dead,” mumbled Emira.

“The only reason you’re still alive is because of Luz.” He squirmed, pressing himself into the corner of the chair. “Ow. I didn’t know that spell would hurt so much.”

“You know what Viney said,” Luz chided. “You both have serious concussions, and she was barely able to heal Emira’s fracture. Don’t stress yourselves out. You’re still healing. I’ll figure all this ball biz out, alright?”

Edric ignored her. “You can’t go. Not if Amity’s there.”

“I can’t heal her if I don’t spend time with her.”

“Didn’t she try to kill you, too?”

“She…” Luz hesitated. Deep down, she knew why Amity had acted the way she did, but she didn’t know how to make excuses out loud. “She was still getting used to the curse when she saw me again for the first time. I don’t think she knew what she was doing either.”

“Well, you still can’t go.”

“But she invited me for a reason!” She stalked over to Edric and held the parchment out in front of his face in case its implications hadn’t sunk in for him yet. “Maybe the curse is healed.” She dismissed the hopeful thought as soon as it crossed her mind. “Whatever the reason, she  _ wants _ me to be at this ball. And if I’m going to prove to her that I really do want to heal her, I have to be there.” 

“That’s ludicrous,” he scoffed.

“Do you really think your baby sister wants to hurt me anymore? Do you think she wants to hurt anyone?”

“Well…” Edric blinked. “I’m still kind of caught up on the whole  _ killing Emira  _ thing.”

“She didn’t kill me,” Emira amended.

“Well, she tried.”

“Not on purpose.” Luz rolled up the parchment and shoved it into the pocket of her jacket. “But you saw how she reacted. She was  _ heartbroken, _ Ed. She couldn’t bear the thought of actually losing her sister.”

He shrugged. “It’s just weird. One says she’s murdering- okay,  _ almost  _ murdering- her family, and a week later she’s throwing a party at the big _ fancy manor _ while the five of us sit around in our cramped old apartment.”

“But she wants me there,” insisted Luz. 

“How do you know she wasn’t just trying to invite me?”

“Because you and Emira are kind of… out of commission right now. She knows that.” She withdrew the invitation again. “And this also kind of says  _ Luz Noceda _ on the back.”

Edric grunted. “Fine. When’s this ball?”

“The nineteenth.”

“And that’s…” Goraning, he put his hands in his face. “Oh, for the love of the Titan. Okay, Luz. Tell you what. We don’t have any money anymore, but there’s a big cardboard box in me and Em’s closet, and if you can find it and bring it here…”

~

The next twenty-four hours passed in a blur of noise and color. As it turned out, even in his chair-ridden, indirectly-concussed state, Edric made a very good fashion consultant. He’d been able to find Luz his sophomore year Grom outfit in the recesses of his closet, and it ended up fitting her to a T. Emira had offered sleepy compliments and encouragements from the couch as he’d helped her figure out the buttons on the navy vest.

Now she stood in front of the mirror, her heart pounding wildly, smoothing her clothes with a kind of franticity she hadn’t felt since the  _ last _ dance she’d attended with Amity.

This seemed to be a very common theme with them.

She liked the way the royal purple dress shirt looked under the vest, as well as the skinny purple dress pants and the shiny black shoes, but it all felt so  _ stiff. _ Wielding Amor or dodging an attack without her full range of motion was risky, but- oh, who was she kidding. This was a normal party, not Grom. She wasn’t risking death by attending. She’d be fine. (And maybe her snazzy outfit would heal Amity all by itself.)

She’d reluctantly sent Amor to Blight Manor the night before. Hesitant about letting her brand new palisman roam free, she’d considered ditching the party just to keep the tiny griffon safe, but she didn’t want to risk this opportunity to see Amity now that her siblings were on the road to recovery. (She could carve another palisman, but she couldn’t carve another Amity.) Luckily, Amor had returned to her safe and sound and without a scratch on the pristine white bark. Now her staff was gripped tightly in her hand. She hoped to the stars she wouldn’t get any splinters.

She ran her hand through her hair one more time. (She’d wanted to slick it back like she had at Grom, but none of the apartment’s inhabitants had any hair gel.)  _ It’s time to go,  _ she told herself.  _ No more being nervous. _

She pushed the bathroom door open, the old wood creaking. The hallway was dark and empty. Willow and Viney must have been out. “I’m going now,” she yelled to the living room, feeling a flash of relief when nobody answered. She didn’t want to talk to the twins again before she left in case they were able to convince her to stay behind. Something about this situation seemed unusually terrifying.

When she exited the apartment building, the evening summer air warmed her skin. She hesitated before mounting her staff. Maybe she should walk. It wasn’t quite dusk yet, and the Isles did look beautiful this time of day. Perhaps taking the scenic route would ease her nerves.

When she entered downtown Bonesborough, it felt oddly empty, especially for this time of day. Willow had told her that security really stepped its guard up around sundown in anticipation of the beginning of the night market. Apparently there hadn’t been a night market in years- but the Emperor’s soldiers never gave up a chance to intimidate. 

Tonight, there wasn’t a guard in sight.

_ How odd. _

Normal, everyday witches in Coven-approved colors bustled about like normal, and for a second Luz wondered if she’d accidentally traveled back four years. The atmosphere was completely different without the guards watching over them. And there wasn’t anything to disprove her theory until, distracted by the sights of the square, she crashed into someone and tumbled to the ground.

“Oh, I’m sorry!” a deep voice apologized. “I wasn’t watching where I was going. Here, let me help you.”

Luz shook the dizziness out of her vision and took the culprit of her carelessness’ offered hand. “No, I’m sorry,” she said. Once she was on her feet, she dusted the dirt off of her pants and looked her rescuer in the eyes. “I-”

She froze.

The other witch reacted before she did, though he seemed equally as stunned. “Luz?”

“Gus!” Luz threw herself forward and caught Gus in a tight hug. “Stars, I’ve been worried about you. Where have you been this whole time? Emira and Edric said you went into hiding!”

“I did!” Gus stepped back and spun with a flourish on his heels to show her a light blue hooded cape attached to his shoulders. “Usually you wouldn’t be able to see me, but for some reason, there aren’t any guards out tonight, so I figured it would be safe.”

Luz was puzzled. “Wouldn’t be able to see you? What do you mean?”

“Watch this.” He flipped his hood over his head, and within the blink of an eye, he was gone. Not even a shadow remained in his place. “Isn’t this neat?”

“That’s amazing,” agreed Luz. 

He removed his hood so that she could see him again. “I made it when I was fourteen. It’s been really helpful since I can’t exactly allow myself to be noticed, y’know, being a covenless high school dropout and all.” Puffing out his chest, he added, “Most of the world doesn’t know me, but those who do know me as Augustus the Amazing Traveling Illusionist. Nobody’s ever made the connection.”

“That’s really amazing, Gus.” Luz’s heart swelled with love for her friend.

“And where are you going all fancy like that?” Gus began to pace around her, eyeing her purple waistcoat and freshly-shone dress shoes. “Is today Fancy Day in the human realm?”

Luz shifted her weight from one foot to the other, self-conscious. Should she tell him she was on her way to Blight Manor for a party? She silently wondered if he’d had any unfortunate run-ins with Amity in the recent months.  _ He probably hasn’t, _ she realized,  _ because when I came here, nobody even knew where Amity was.  _ She tossed caution to the wind. “I’m going to Blight Manor.”

“Oh, to see the twins!” Gus’ eyes lit up. “Tell them I’m sorry for not visiting more often. It’s pretty tight down here. I have to do a lot of running in between shows.”

“Oh.” Luz drew in a sharp breath.  _ He doesn’t even know the twins had to move out.  _ This would be an awkward explanation. He wouldn’t think any less of her, would he? If Edric had still been suspicious of his little sister… “They don’t live there anymore.”

“What about Willow and Viney?”

“No.”

“Why are you going there, then?”

“To see Amity.”

“Oh, Amity! I haven’t seen her in months. How’s she doing?” He wiggled his eyebrows teasingly. “Are you guys-”

She cut him off. “It’s a long story.”

“Is she having a party? Is that why you’re so spiffy right now?”

“Yes. She’s the Head of the Family now. Her welcoming ball is tonight.” She looked down at the ground as she spoke. “She invited me.”

“Wait. If she’s the head of the family, and she’s the only one living there…” Gus went quiet. Luz could see the gears turning in his mind as he drew his own horrifying conclusion. “Did she kick them out?”

“Like I said, it’s all really complicated-”

“I have to go with you,” he interrupted. He gave her his best puppy dog eyes. “Please? I have to know what’s going on.”

Luz shook her head. “I’m sorry. I’d love to have you along, but… Amity  _ explicitly  _ said no plus ones.”

Gus put his invisibility hood back up. “Easy. You can have a plus zero.”

Despite herself, Luz let herself laugh. Gus was such a ray of sunshine. With all her worry for Amity, she’d forgotten how much she missed him. Now that he was here, she was filled with a renewed sense of determination. With his help, she’d have an even easier time curing Amity of her awful curse once and for all. “Alright. You can come with me.”

“Yes!” Gus cheered, pumping his fists in the air. “I’ll be the best invisible date you ever had, and that’s a promise.”

“You will. Now, I have some things to explain before we get there.”

She strode off with Gus by her side. She did her best to explain both time spells, Belos’ obsession with finding the two so-called Time Witches, Willow’s capture and Amity’s curse, the duel, and Emira’s close brush with death. He stared at her wide-eyed throughout the entire story, and when she finished, he was speechless.

Which was probably a good thing, because at that moment, they found themselves at the front door of Blight Manor.

A witch Luz didn’t recognize, wearing half-rimmed glasses and a long red ball gown, greeted them. “Welcome to Blight Manor,” he said coolly. “Luz Noceda, I’m assuming?”

Luz gave him a small dip of her head. “Greetings.” The fact that this stranger knew her name unnerved her.

“It’s nothing personal. You’re just the only human Miss Blight invited,” the bouncer said, as if he’d read Luz’s mind. He pushed the door open for them and gave her a friendly nod. “Leave your staff on the staff rack and enjoy the ball.”

“Thank you,” Luz responded. Gus had to dash forward to avoid the slamming door.

Stepping inside Blight Manor knowing that it didn’t belong to the twins anymore felt weird. No, that wasn’t the right word- it was  _ off. _ It was  _ wrong. _ It didn’t look any different on the inside than it had a week ago. But knowing where the twins were now, shoved out to their old crappy apartment, made an unexpected bubble of rage appear in Luz’s stomach. She was grateful for Gus’ invisible but constant presence grounding her.   
Plus, there were a lot of witches here.

There had to be ten in the foyer alone. How many friends did Amity have? Stranger still, Luz didn’t recognize any of them. Her luck didn’t change the further she moved into the house, either. The living room was packed, and when she found the Blights’ huge ballroom, she had trouble processing what she was seeing.

Long, wooden tables with lace tablecloths lined the edge of the room, each piled with fancy looking horse-divorces (or whatever they were called.) On one wall sat a stage, which was currently occupied by a few bards playing slow, thrumming music. Witches minged and chatted among themselves. The steady buzz of conversation emcompassed the entirety of the massive room. At the far end of the ballroom stood a wide, grandiose staircase. Perched at the top, hands resting on the banister, was the Head of the Family herself, dressed to the nines in a long, plum-colored gown that glittered in the light like a sea of stars.

For a terrifying moment, the two girls’ eyes met.

No hint of recogniton flashed in Amity’s golden gaze, but she must have realized that Luz was there, and she began to descend the stairs. She stopped about halfway down and drew a circle in the air. Silence fell over the ballroom like a blanket, and everyone, including Luz, involuntarily fixed their attention on her.

“Greetings, everyone,” Amity called. Now she seemed to be avoiding looking at Luz. “Welcome to Blight Manor. My name is Amity Blight, and I am the newly appointed Head of the Blight Family. I recently challenged my older sister, Emira Blight, to a duel and won. Under my leadership, I will make the Blight family the strongest it’s ever been. My name has a bright future on the Isles. Thank you to all who were able to attend.”

“There’s no way in the whole Isles that’s Amity,” Gus hissed in Luz’s ear. Luz found herself agreeing. Even from afar, this version of Amity radiated chilliness. She hoped it was just a public persona. After all, Amity would need to have a distinguished air around her guests if she was to impress them. She was the leader of the wealthiest family in Bonesborough. She couldn’t afford a single mistake, especially on a night like tonight.

“We will begin the night with a dance. Boscha Barlowe, I’d like you to be my partner,” she finished simply, and trailed the rest of the way down the stairs. The music started up again. As it did, an invisible force grabbed Luz by the collar and dragged her to the side of the room next to the snack tables.

“I see what you mean now,” Gus muttered once they were out of earshot of anyone else. “I don’t trust her one bit.”

Luz grimaced. “It’s not that I don’t trust her, it’s just that-”

“There’s something wrong with her. There’s gotta be. Taking over the Blight family? Nearly killing her sister? You can’t make excuses for her, Luz.”

“She’s cursed, Gus, she-”

“Then for the Titan’s sake, heal her!”

“I’m trying to find a way!” Luz snapped. “But whenever I open up a book to search for a solution, all I ever find is stupid propoganda about Belos and his stupid Silent Trial and what a great emperor he is and how he definitely doesn’t curse random subjects just for fun.”

“Okay. I guess I understand that.”

“I will heal her in time. I know I will. As soon as I figure out a cure.”

“Let’s just watch her for now,” Gus whispered. “You can learn a lot from a person by watching them dance.”

As he spoke, Luz found Amity among the crowd. The song that was playing wasn’t quick, but it had a strong tempo, and Amity led her dance with Boscha as if she’d been doing it her whole life. She couldn’t deny how beautiful Amity looked, dancing gracefully in her flowing dress.

_ She learned that from me. _ Luz suddenly felt sick to her stomach.

“She’s very good,” Gus commented.

“I taught her.”

“Oh.”

“But you’re right.”  _ I’m glad I was able to teach her something, I guess. _

As the song continued, Luz scanned the crowd, but she didn’t recognize any of the witches here save for Amity and Boscha. Who were these strangers, and where had they come from? They certainly weren't run-of-the-mill Bonesboroughites. “Do you know anyone here?” she asked Gus. Maybe he’d run in with a few of them during his adventures as a traveling illusionist.

“I don’t.”

“Maybe they’re distant relatives.”

“Maybe.”

At last, the song ended, and the crowd dispersed, leaving only a few witches in the center of the dance floor. Amity was one of them, and she was turning in slow, searching circles. She seemed to be looking for something.

_ Or someone. _

Her eyes landed on Luz. The human’s breath hitched. Amity was heading  _ towards  _ her. She must want to speak with her. That had to count as a positive emotion, right? Wanting to talk? Was the curse healing at last?

Maybe Emira’s injury really had been what Amity needed.

“Luz,” she said icily when she stopped in front of them. “Welcome to Blight Manor. It’s nice to see you in attendance. I was afraid you wouldn’t come.”

“Don’t worry, Amity,” Luz answered, forcing cheerfulness into her voice. “You don’t have to be all hoity-toity and official-sounding around me. I know what’s going on.”

Amity’s frown deepened. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“I thought- I thought we were cool now. You… you opened up to me about the curse and all…”

“I have many things to worry about,” Amity growled, “and you are not one of them.”

“Oh.” Luz’s heart sank.  _ What’s this all about? _ Amity seemed to be back on square one. What had happened? The curse couldn’t have gotten worse, could it?

Amity straightened her shoulders and lifted her chin. “Regardless of all that, I’d like you to be my dance partner for the next song. Will you do that for me, Luz?”

“I-” She backed away. “I was actually going to-”

Then Amity grabbed her wrist, and they were so close, they were so  _ impossibly  _ close, and the blood roared in her ears. She could see the golden eyes of the girl she loved so clearly, and the long scar that had been slashed down her flawless face, and every freckle that dotted her cheeks.  _ She’s beautiful. _ Her heart ached.  _ I just wish she’d come back. _ “Okay. I’ll dance with you.”

Amity waved one hand at the band and used the other to pull Luz towards her. The music began and already they were locked in a tight embrace, arms around each other, faces barely inches apart. Their proximity made Luz’s heart pound. The kind face that haunted her dreams was different now- calculating.

Dancing with Amity felt as natural as breathing- as natural as it had four years ago. Amity quickly took the lead, so she followed her steps. 

“Amity,” she said quietly. “Please be honest with me. What’s going on with the curse?”

“Nothing.” Amity spun her around but expertly caught her, leaving her dizzy. “Nothing’s changed.”

“But you’re acting so-”

“I’ve explained everything already. There’s nothing more left to say.”

“Amity-”

“Belos stole everything from me. Do you really need to know more? There’s not that much to it.”

“I want to  _ help.” _

“Then you should have helped before I had to challenge Emira.”

_ “Had  _ to challenge Emira?”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“But Amity-”

Amity’s hold on Luz’s waist tightened. “I’m sorry, Luz.” She retained her low tone, but there was a note of apologeticness there that hadn’t been there before. “I’ll talk to you when this song is over.”

Luz allowed her shoulders to relax. “Okay.”

They danced through the rest of the piece in silence. Under normal circumstances, Luz would have loved listening to the swelling dynamics and gentle melodies of the strings on the stage, but tonight, the music only served to remind her how much her heart was hurting. When it finally ended, neither girl was the first to move apart, but the blankness on Amity’s face betrayed that she simply didn’t care.

The crowd moved back, and Amity took Luz’s wrist- more gently this time. “Come with me,” she whispered. 

She pulled the human away from the ballroom and into the winding corridors of the manor. Her steps were sure as she rounded corner after corner. The house was a neverending labyrinth, but she might as well have journeyed the halls blindfolded. 

When they found the room she had been looking for, she pulled her inside and slammed the door shut behind them.

A weak light flickered on.   
“Where are we?” Luz asked.  _ Why not choose literally any of the closer rooms in the manor? _

“I need to ask you a question.”

“Sure.” She shrugged. “Ask away.”

Amity took a deep breath. “Do you trust me?”   
“Trust you?” That was an odd question. Of course she trusted Amity. “I’ve always trusted you.”

“Even…” For the first time in years, the other witch seemed unsure of herself. “Even now? After… everything I’ve done?”

Luz smiled and took Amity’s hands in her own. “It’s okay. You’re still the same Amity deep down, curse or no curse. I just need to find out where you’re hidden.”

“Okay. That’s good.” 

“You’ll be alright, Amity.”

“I know.”

Then she waved a finger, and Luz heard two sets of thumping footsteps approach her from behind. A hand settled down on each of her shoulders and she gave a sharp inhale of surprise. She tilted her head up. 

Standing behind her were two tall witches- both wearing the beaked, eyeless masks of the Emperor’s soldiers. Their breath was hot and heavy on the back of her neck, but chills still raced down her spine.

She swiveled her gaze back to Amity. “Amity, what-” she began.

“Shh. Not now, Luz.” The scarred side of Amity’s face twisted into a grin and her eyes went alight with flame. 

She addressed the soldiers. 

“You heard her. She trusts me. I told you I could do it, and I’ve done it- I’ve found the Time Witch, and now she’s yours.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it ain’t a kontra story if it doesn’t have a bad plot twist
> 
> (yes it will make sense i promise😭😭😭)


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i couldn’t wait any longer than a day ;-;  
> the song for this chapter is open up your eyes from the mlp movie
> 
> sorry this one is short, but i did speedwrite it lol

The cell was very dark.

Luz stalked from one end to the other, hissing obscenities under her breath. Now her waistcoat felt tight and itchy, which only served to irritate her further. She paused to wrap her hands around the iron bars and shake, but they held fast, and when she plaintively tried to squeeze her shoulders through, she saw no success.

She’d even tried drawing glyphs in the dust on the floor earlier, but to no avail. She needed Amor- but Amor was still at the manor.

She’d had no time to react once Amity’s guards had their hands on her. Wrapped up in shock and nearly bursting with questions at Amity’s heel-face turn, she hadn’t put up a fight. She hadn’t even been sure what was real and what wasn’t- but she knew one thing. Amity had betrayed her. She’d been lying the whole time about hating her curse.

So Luz had let herself be taken, and now she was trapped in a holding cell, marked for petrification at dawn. Again. It was  _ always  _ petrification.

_ You’re a fool, Luz. _

She shook the bars again.

_ How could you have trusted her? She doesn’t care about you. _

And again. Her muscles began to ache. 

_ And now she’s sending you to your death. _

With a groan, she gave up and sank to the ground, drawing her knees to her chest and burying her face in them.

After a silent moment, she heard a quiet echo of two pairs of footsteps in the direction of the doorway.

_ Amity, _ she seethed silently. She drew herself back to her full height and pressed herself against the bars, waiting with narrowed eyes for the confrontation with her captor. She didn’t know what Amity thought she had to say, but Luz had plans to give her a piece of her mind.

When Amity emerged into the small patch of light in front of Luz’s cell, accompanied by an anonymous masked guard, she was wearing a small but evidently very satisfied smile. Gone was her long ball gown, having been replaced with a plain looking cloak and tunic. A golden badge bearing the symbol of a winged sword glinted on her lapel.

Anger pulsed in Luz’s veins. “Are you here to gloat, Amity?” she snarled.

Amity’s smile widened, and the fire in Luz’s stomach grew hotter. “Fun fact,” she said, “it’s actually  _ Commander  _ Amity now. I finally got the promotion I promised. No more of that undercover-officer nonsense. I’ll be much more use to the Emperor now.”

“Undercover-” Luz snapped her mouth shut. She didn’t want to give Amity the satisfaction of her surprise.

It was too late. Amity looked delighted. “Yes, yes, yes. I have chosen a coven. When I was offered the position back in the throne room, I simply  _ had _ to take it.”

_ So that’s what Belos said to her. _

“And now, here we are,” she went on delightedly. “I’ve fulfilled my agreement with Emperor Belos and captured you. Now, in return, he will heal my curse. Maybe I’ll set you free after that- if I want to, of course.”

Luz snorted. “You really believe he’ll heal your curse? Don’t you remember what happened to Eda?” And here she’d thought Amity was smart. But then again, capturing the only person her curse affected so that she could get herself  _ healed  _ hardly seemed like a wise decision either.

“Yes, but this is different.” She dismissively waved her hand. “I’m already a part of the Coven. Eda unwisely resisted Belos’ request- and that didn’t serve her well. But I’m a top-ranking commander now. He can’t want anything else from me.”

“That’s not true and you know it. He’d kill for your knowledge about time travel, so that he could use it to acquire even more power.” Luz could only imagine what Belos would do if he possessed the knowledge that she and Amity did- perhaps he’d use it to capture Eda before she even knew she was being hunted, or take control of the Isles before he even had the chance to challenge the former Emperor to the Silent Trial. The amount of control he could acquire via time magic was unfathomable. 

“Who’s to say I haven’t already given it to him?”

_ “What?” _

“He’s my Emperor.” Amity sounded nonchalant. To an outsider, it wouldn’t have sounded like she was talking about giving access to extremely powerful magic to a controlling dictator and consequently dooming millions of people. “He asked for it. I gave it.”

Unable to control her instincts any longer, Luz lashed out and grabbed the front of Amity’s cowl in her hands. “You  _ told  _ Belos about the spells? You didn’t tell him how to cast them, did you?” Either way, Amity had just sentenced every witch on the Isles to death. With the names of the spells, they’d be easy to find- especially for the Emperor. “Where is your precious Emperor now, anyway? He seems awfully uninterested in dealing with the most interesting criminal he’s captured in four months.”

Amity blinked at her. “He’s already on the Petrification stage, waiting for you. He decided that he wanted to see your ceremony for himself. And no- I only told him the names of the spells. You remember-” she cleared her throat and raised her voice, attracting the attention of the guard standing by the doorway- “the Reciprocation and Tracking spells, don’t you?”

“But those aren’t-” 

Amity hissed a short  _ shh. _ Luz went silent. “Of course they’re not! Do you really think I’m that stupid?”

“Amity, what are you doing?”

The other witch drew herself away from the cage. “Achieving my childhood dream, of course.” Any cracks in her demeanor had gone, and now she had returned to the cold, ruthless version of herself Luz had come to fear. “I’ve always wanted to be in the Emperor’s Coven. And now I am. All the work I’ve done for this has paid off.”

Luz narrowed her eyes. “But you’ve seen what Belos has done.”

“And as it turns out, siding with him is much more beneficial than trying to fight him.”

“But he’s evil!” she protested. “You know that! You- the curse-”

“Listen to me, Luz,” Amity interrupted. “Put yourself in my shoes for a minute. Imagine someone you care about deeply. Picture them in your mind.”

“Nothing can justify what you’ve done,” she snapped. For all her show of bravery, though, she couldn’t help an image of Amity- younger, kinder, loving Amity- creeping into her mind.

Amity ignored her. “Now imagine that one day you look at that person and you feel nothing. Not the slightest twinge. You know that you know them, but do you really? If you could see the future, would you be excited or saddened by seeing that they’re going to stay in your life forever?”

“Well-”

“You wouldn’t care. They could come and go as they pleased, but you would hardly notice. They’d be a nonentity. Maybe life is a path best walked alone.”

_ So you’re willing to sacrifice my life for solitude? _ Heart racing, Luz fought back franticity. What was Amity saying? Did their conversation under the Grom tree mean nothing to her anymore? She thought she’d finally broken down one of Amity’s walls. It turns out Amity was just as much of a stranger as ever. “I don’t understand. What about a week ago, at the Grom tree? You made it sound like… like you wanted to love me again.”  _ How many lies have you told me? Which Amity is the real one? _

“Maybe I did, once. But look at me now. I’m one of the most powerful and high-ranking witches on the Isles- and it's all thanks to you. So, Luz, from the bottom of my heart- thank you for using the Rectification spell all those years ago. It’s helped me monumentally in getting to where I am today.” She straightened her Emperor’s Coven badge. The point of the sword caught the pale light, and she smiled.

Shaking her head, Luz tried her best to plead to the unrecognizable girl on the other side of the bars. “I can still heal you. Leave the Coven and let me out. I’ll find a way. And then we can be together, just like you always wanted. Just like  _ we  _ always wanted.”

Amity’s expression betrayed no emotion. “It’s not that simple.”

“Yes, it is. There’s got to be a glyph somewhere that’ll heal you- there has to be. I just have to experiment until I find it.”

“Some things,” the other witch sighed, “cannot be cured.”

Before she could say another word, the soldier at the door cleared his throat. She whirled around and bared her fangs at him. “What?”

“My apologies, Commander Blight,” he said, dipping his head, “but your time with the human is up. Her ceremony is scheduled for five minutes from now. You must depart the holding room.”

Amity straightened herself. She’d taken a desperate, almost fearful posture over the course of their conversation, but now she looked again like the regal commander she claimed to be. “Very well.” She turned back to Luz. With one hand, she discreetly drew something out of the pocket of her cloak, and with the other, she reached through the bars and took Luz’s. She pried Luz’s palm open, placed something in it, and closed her fist back up before Luz had a chance to figure out what the tiny object was. 

“Goodbye,” she whispered. 

Red lights flickered on over Luz’s head, and the cell was elevating, closer and closer to the skylight- closer to Belos. Closer to her end.

Closer to a future where Amity would never truly be herself again.

_ Does this mean I failed? _

The cell’s movement ceased.

There was no crowd here to see her Petrification, not like last time. When she and Amity had been sentenced to Perification on their mission to rescue Eda, and Belos had sensed that they’d trifled with time (being told by the Titan, he’d claimed,) there had been loud, protesting crowds in the plaza as soon as they’d appeared on stage. But now there was nobody. It seemed that Belos hadn’t told a soul that the last remaining Time Witch had been subdued.

She’d be going out quietly, without so much as a murmur.

Just as Amity had promised, Belos was here on stage, his tiny assistant, Kikimora, by his side. She looked almost regretful, her talons clasped in front of her and her eyes dark. The Emperor, on the other hand, was unreadable as ever with his bronze-and-silver mask. 

“Hello, Luz the human,” Belos murmured. “How nice to see you again.”

“How do you cure Amity?” Luz shouted. “If you tell me, I won’t fight. I’ll let you go through with this- just let her free. Please.” She was aware that giving herself up while granting Amity her feelings back  _ seemed  _ cruel, but in the long run, it was better to be able to feel, wasn’t it? Even if the feelings hurt… at least they’d be real.

“I’m afraid I can’t do that,” sighed Belos. “Commander Amity is part of my Coven now. Now that she’s in charge of her own portion of the army- a rank she achieved after capturing you- she’s going to be focusing on leading expeditions to the other continents. When my rule expands and I spread the Coven system across the whole planet, all of witchkind will thank me. I will make the world a much better place. Perhaps that means we must make a few sacrifices along the way, but in the grand scheme of things… a happier society is worth the price of a few criminal lives, yes?”

Suddenly Luz was reminded of the object Amity had placed in her hand. She turned her back to Belos and opened her shaky palm. A crumbled page of paper sat there- a crumpled page of paper that was attached with a string to a small silver key. 

She looked back at the door to the cell.

She already knew that her arms were thin enough to reach through, and… the key looked to be about the size of the cell’s lock. Had Amity provided her with an escape? Had her cruel words been nothing but a facade the whole time?

_ I could just leave now. I could live. _

_ No. _ Belos was still watching her with calculated interest, green eyes glowing underneath his mask.

She unfolded the sheet of paper.

On it was a short handwritten message.

_ Luz- _

_ You know what you have to do now, but if you’re scared, I’ve attached this so that you can escape. Belos is planning to move his armies off of the Isles tomorrow, though, so if you want time to make a plan, know what you’re sacrificing. _

_ Whatever you decide, I will be there alongside you. _

_ Amity _

She flipped the paper over, but she only had to read the three-word heading at the top to understand immediately what Amity meant.

There was only one way to defeat Belos. She’d known the whole time, but she was finally being brought to face with the harsh reality. Whatever happened, she’d end up losing. But it was her only option- to save her life, to save Amity’s, to save the lives of everyone on the Boiling Isles.

_ The books I read when I was looking for a cure… the solution was there the whole time. _

Her whole body trembling, she turned back to face him. 

“Emperor Belos,” she said. Her voice was unsteady, so she cleared her throat and tried again.

“Emperor Belos, I wish to undergo the Silent Trial.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WE’RE REALLY IN IT NOW FOLKS
> 
> side note- i’d like to advertise a new discord server run by me and my friends elderon (of better in concept fame) and rainbowjeff (of ghost of you fame) called pen pals! it’s for writers and readers of fanfic to talk about their favorite fandoms and discuss the stories they’ve read and written. you can dm me on discord (kontraklarinette#3511) if you’re interested!


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If You Know What Happens In This Chapter, Please Tell Me, Because I Have No Clue

Wind from the sea buffeted Luz’s face as she stared out at the massive, yawning cave in front of her. She shivered, but only partially from the cold. 

_What will I find in there?_

“Now,” Kikimora was telling her, “as the challenger for the throne, you will enter the cave upon my instruction and complete the Trial. I cannot tell you about the components of the Trial, save for the final one. Should you make it to the end, Emperor Belos will be waiting for you, and you will engage in combat with him. Whoever survives and emerges from the cave again will be crowned Emperor of the Isles, and will be given the other’s magical power.”

 _I will end the day either dead or immortal._ Luz pushed away the terror or chest. _I don’t know which would be worse._

When Luz had first announced her decision to partake in the Trial, both the Emperor and his assistant had both done nothing but stared in shock (though Belos’ verged more on ironic amusement). Kikimora had spat and sputtered about the rules excluding convicted criminals, but he had raised his hand to silence her. “Hundreds of witches have undertaken the Trial during my time as Emperor, but I’ve never seen a human try.” His glowing green eyes met Luz. “Watching her attempt would be quite entertaining. And either way, she will die, which is exactly what I had planned to happen, no matter the circumstance. She _did_ use a time spell twice.”

 _So once is fine, but twice is crossing the line?_ Luz couldn’t help but roll her eyes.

Now she stood at the bottom of the Titan’s skull, next to the entrance of the Silent Cave dug out in the cliffside. The only things she could hear were Kikimora’s drawling and the sound of waves washing over the shore, as well as the sound of her own heartbeat in her ears.

“...and I must give you one small enchantment before you enter. It is a simple binding charm that will ensure you stick to your mission. I believe that is all that I must tell you. Do you understand the terms and wish to begin?”

Lost in her own thoughts, she didn’t reply. What would she do if Belos was defeated? _Empress Luz Noceda…_ it didn’t sound quite right to her. What if she were a worse ruler than Belos had been? _I’m not even close enough to being able to handle those responsibilities._

“Luz?” Kikimora prompted. “Are you ready? The Emperor is ready for you to begin the trial.”

“Oh. Of course.” What she really wanted to say was _no, not at all, there is not a way this could end that would not cost me everything,_ but leaving the Isles with their current ruler- and Amity with her curse- hardly seemed like a good option.

“Then I will bestow upon you the binding charm.” The little demon stepped closer to Luz and took her wrist gently in her talons. Once she had drawn the spell circle- sending a strange jolt of energy up Luz’s back- a yell from a little ways down the beach made them both turn.

“Wait!”

Amity was dashing towards them. Her cloak billowed out behind her, and she was holding Gizmo in one hand and Amor in the other. She skidded to a halt in front of Luz, breath coming in short pants, and shoved Luz’s staff into her arms. “I would like to accompany Luz into the cave,” she gasped. “I want to do the Trial with her.”

Kikimora’s eyes narrowed. “If you wish to challenge Belos for the throne, Commander Amity, you must wait until _after_ Luz has been killed. It’s stated clearly in the rules- no simultaneous trials.”

“I’m not challenging Belos. I just want to go with her.”

“And that’s not allowed either.”

“Yes, it is. Luz, do you still have that page?”

A small smile pulled at Luz’s face. Amity knew what she was doing. “I do.” She produced the tattered paper Amity had given her from the pocket of her vest and gave it to her. Amiry unfolded it and began to read.

“The Silent Trial. While the rules and guidelines have changed ever since the Trial was first instigated in 320, or 605 B.C. as it is sometimes known, they remain mostly the same and have sometimes been criticized for their lack of specificity. Number one: the challenger must be at least eighteen years old to participate.”

“I’m eighteen and six months,” Luz confirmed.

“Number two: the challenger must not have a criminal record. Belos broke that rule himself, so that means it’s basically useless. And number three: the Trial does not end until one participant is dead.” She rolled up the page and gave it back to Luz. “Pretty straightforward if you ask me, and without a single mention of the validity- or lack thereof- of having someone to accompany her.”

“It just doesn’t make sense.” Kikimora crossed her arms. “Two against one is completely unfair.”

“And Belos against _anyone_ is also completely unfair, but I don’t see you protesting that.”

The tiny demon scoffed. “Fine, then! You may go. But Belos will not be pleased when he discovers that he must kill his top commander.”

“This isn’t about him,” Amity said. “It’s about me.” She turned to Luz, a twinkle in her golden eyes that Luz hadn’t seen in years. She offered the human her hand and a soft smile. “Are you ready?”

“Not at all,” Luz responded, and gave her companion her own hand in return.

Then they stepped into the cave.

The air was even colder here, and Luz realized that not only was her ball outfit not ideal for combat, it wasn’t ideal for warmth, either. She couldn’t see in the pitch blackness, but she felt Amity draw her hand away. _I guess that’s fair._ Amity certainly didn’t feel the same rush at the contact as she had.

“Wow, it’s freezing in here,” Amity whispered. “Luz, do you think-” She was cut off when a sharp shriek tore through her throat. The cave went silent.

“Amity!” Luz lunged towards the spot she’d thought Amity had last occupied, but her fists closed around empty air. The darkness faded around her with the sound of a deafening explosion, and she cowered, screwing her eyes shut and pressing her hands against the side of her head, silently willing her ears to stop ringing.

The noise subsided, and she opened her eyes.

Large, rolling, grassy plains stretched as far as she could see in every direction. The red blades whispered in the breeze and the sun hung high overhead. It would have been serene, had the plain not been littered with battling witches and the peaceful breeze were not torn with screeches of agony as combatants fell around her.

She was barely able to dodge a purple blast of magic that shot by her head, inches away from her face. _What’s happening?_ she wondered frantically. _Where am I?_

“Empress Luz!”

Luz whirled around. A short, stocky witch- a stranger to her- stood a few feet away, clutching a palisman with one hand and gesturing wildly with the other. “Empress, the General just fell. We can’t hold Belos’ soldiers off much longer. We need to retreat.”

“Empress?” Luz’s head spun. “What do you mean? I’m not the Empress. And what General? And Belos? I’m not in an army, I…” She trailed off as she gazed around at the surrounding battle. Soldiers in gold, breastplates emblazoned with a circle of light, fought valiantly against gray-clad soldiers sporting thin, beaked helmets. She looked down at herself. Her ball outfit was gone, replaced by the same armor as everyone else.

The other witch’s eyes went wide. “Oh, no.” She cupped her hand around her mouth and called to another soldier nearby. “Clover, the Empress is spell-shocked. You need to call retreat. I’ll get her to the healers as quickly as possible.”

Clover gave her a quick nod and nonchalantly used her staff to knock aside a beaked warrior approaching her from behind. “Got it.” She signaled to her palisman, and the little wooden bird- a vulture, by the looks of it- leapt into the sky and let out an ear-splitting _caw_ noise.

The other bundled towards Luz and swept her up into a not-so-dainty bridal carry. “Don’t worry, Empress,” she growled. “We’ll get you fixed up. The Isles need you.”

“I’m not-” Luz shut her mouth. Arguing would be pointless. Unless she could manage to convince these witches she wasn’t really the Empress of the Isles, she’d have to wait out this horrible dream.

_A dream. I hope that’s all it is._

The healers’ tent was small and crowded, and healers bustled around the cramped space, terror written clearly across all of their faces. The healer carrying Luz set her down on a cot in the corner. “I’m fine,” Luz protested weakly. “I was just scared. I had a- a lapse in memory, that’s all. I remember everything now.”

“You’re definitely not fine,” the healer retorted.

“But- the battle-”

“There will be many more, Empress. You will still have the chance to defend your people. Belos’ soldiers are not going away anytime soon.”

“I guess not.” _Why are they even here?_ she longed to scream. _If I’m the Empress, doesn’t that mean Belos is dead?_ _Is this the future, or just a horrible vision of something that will never really come to pass?_

“Stay there. I-”

“Wait.”

The witch blinked at her.

“Do you know where Amity Blight is?” Perhaps she’d been swept up in the same vision as well. If she could find Amity, they might be able to get out of it and return to the Trial. “Is she in this battle too?”

The healer’s gaze clouded. “Oh, Empress,” she murmured. 

Then she disappeared into the crowd, and Luz didn’t see her again, because the next thing she knew, the edge of a sword was being pressed against her throat.

She froze. 

“Don’t move.”

The cold metal slid closer to her skin. She didn’t even dare to swallow. Shock dulled her senses, but her life still flashed before her eyes- visions of Amity, of the Isles, of Belos’ laughter as he discovered her dead in the Silent Cave, his reign extended forever.

Determination surged through her, and she spun expertly around, gripping the hilt of the sword and tearing it away from her attacker. “No, you.”

The attacker leapt away. Luz spotted surprise in all three of her eyes. She clearly hadn’t expected the human to fight back.

Luz’s gaze narrowed. She pointed the sword at the ground, well out of Boscha’s reach. “You.”

“You’ll surrender the Isles to the Emperor’s Army if you know what’s good for you,“ snapped her attacker. “You’ve ruled over us for too long.”

“Too bad they sent their slowest assassin to kill me.”

A smug grin settled over Boscha’s features, instilling a deep sense of dread in Luz’s chest. “Oh, that’s what you think.” She snapped her fingers, and the tent walls collapsed. The thick fabric was torn by all manners of weapons as what must have been ten more soldiers charged in.

Luz was surrounded.

She didn’t recognize any of Boscha’s cronies, thank the stars. Having _one_ of her former classmates after her was traumatizing enough. They all wore the gray of Belos’ army and the beaked masks that revealed only their eyes. (Their allegiance stumped her- how was Belos still alive?)

One of the assassins leapt at her, but she was fast. Swinging the sword in a long arc, it connected with the witch’s stomach, sending him toppling backwards. With a skilled feint to the side, she dodged the others, escaping through a wide hole in the wall. Once she was in the clear, she sprinted as fast her legs would carry her. She waited until she was out of range of her pursuers before spinning around and waiting for them to come to her, sword brandished.

Boscha was in the lead, the others fanned out behind her. Luz lifted her chin. Weird dream or not, she couldn’t allow anyone to hurt the home she loved.

Boscha bared her fangs as she charged. Her expression nearly matched that of her cobra palisman. She didn’t anticipate Luz’s move, though. Once she was close enough, Luz swung the sword- missing on purpose and knocking the staff out of Boscha’s hands. Boscha was disoriented for a moment- giving Luz just enough time to thrust the sword forward. 

She closed her eyes, but she didn’t have to see to know that she didn’t miss her mark.

Then she was swept up in darkness again. The plains disappeared, and Boscha’s dying scream along with it.

~

The second vision she found herself having couldn’t have been more different than the first.

There were no wails of dying witches this time, no bloodstains on the already-red grass. Her outfit had changed yet again, to a more casual black tunic and jeans rather than the expensive armor she’d worn during the fight. The ceilings that arched over her head were painted with images of suns and stars, and the wide window on the far side allowed sunlight to stream in and strike the shining tile floor. Bookshelves lined the walls all the way up to the ceiling. The room was huge, and more beautiful than any Luz had ever seen. She realized she was still holding the sword from the battlefield, so she laid it down quickly on a nearby chair.

A noise caught her attention, and she turned. The wide double doors one one side were pushed open, and a witch older than herself stepped inside. “Well, that’s all taken care of,” she sighed. Her golden eyes met Luz’s and crinkled at the edges. “I can’t believe we’ll never send Sky off to a first day of school again. She’s grown up so fast. I’m so proud of her.”

Luz hesitated. The witch in front of her was unmistakingly familiar, but there was something… _off_ about her. Her short brown hair was graying at the roots, and her normally bright gaze looked much more tired than usual. “Amity…” she said, nearly choking up at the mere use of the name. “Are you alright?”

“Of course, love.” Amity stepped towards her and enveloped her in a tight embrace, resting her chin on her shoulder. “You don’t have any need to worry. I’m just fine.”

Luz suddenly felt sick to her stomach. She knew Amity, and the tension in Amity’s voice told her that she was not, in fact, alright.

“No, you’re not,” she said sternly. “Something’s up.”  
Amity sighed in the Amity way she did when something was bugging her. “Alright,” she agreed reluctantly. She brought Luz to the couch and corner and sat down. Placing her head on the human’s shoulder, she began to speak quietly.

“I guess I’m just a little sad about… you. It’s been over twenty years since you became the Empress, and every day, I fear more and more that you’ll lose me soon. I won’t be around forever, but you…” Her voice caught in her throat. She was clearly holding back tears, and Luz’s heart ached for her. 

_So I’m still the Empress here. If this is the future, then I’ve healed her… but for what price?_

“You haven’t aged a day past eighteen,” Amity finished. She let out a shaky exhale. “Stars, Luz, I’m going to miss you.”

Luz was at a loss for words. “Amity…”

“I wish you hadn’t been the only one who could have saved the Isles. Then we could… be normal, maybe. Lead normal lives. I don’t regret this one, but I think it was far too short.”

 _“Was?_ Amity you have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Yes I do, Luz,” Amity said firmly. “It’s a hereditary condition. You know that. You remember the day Emira stopped by with news of Odalia, don’t you?”

“I could find an immortality spell,” Luz said hurriedly. More futures were crowding her mind- the one without Amity being the most painful. “There’s got to be a better way to harness Belos’ magic than this-”

Amity let out a soft exhale. “Don’t bother. I’ve lived a life loving you- and that’s the most blessed I could possibly be.”

Luz could have sworn that in that moment, her heart cracked right down the middle.

~

The vision ended, and she once again stood in the dank, musky cave.

She _hoped_ this was the cave, anyway. If there was a third awful future where she became an immortal Empress and was exiled to the caves at the top of the Titan’s body, she might have just backed out of the Trial and let Belos take the Isles.

She assumed it wasn’t, though, because she could hear footsteps blundering through the darkness towards her. 

“Luz?” Amity’s voice, high-pitched with fear, called out to her. “Luz, where are you?”

“I’m here!”

“Okay.” 

Something heavy crashed into Luz, and she nearly toppled to the ground. She righted herself just in time for Amity to catch her arm and pull her back up.

“Sorry about that,” Amity apologized. 

“It’s okay.”

“Wow.” She pulled herself away and shivered. “If that’s the Silent Trial _without_ feelings, I don’t even want to know what you went through.”

“You saw the visions too?”

Amity shrugged. “The cave seems to think that I’m also trying to be Empress.”

Luz shuddered. Amity seemed so nonchalant. Whatever she’d seen clearly hadn’t been anything like Luz had. The battle… Boscha… Amity’s confrontation of her own mortality. _And our daughter named Sky._ Luz had never even considered having kids before, but in that moment, she wanted nothing more than to get to know her (future?) daughter.

“What’d you see?” Amity prompted.

 _“I don’t regret this life, but I think it was far too short.”_ Future Amity’s ominous words rang in Luz’s ears. “I don’t really want to talk about it.”

“That’s okay.”

“Amity- do you see that light?” Luz wasn’t trying deliberately to switch the subject, but she did need Amity’s attention. If she squinted, she could make out a near-blinding white glow in the distance.

Amity excitedly brushed their shoulders together. “I do! Do you think it goes back outside?”

“We haven’t even faced the last part of the trial yet,” Luz reminded her. _The part where I either get killed by Belos or become immortal_. “Amity, do you think there might be a loophole to the whole immortality thing?”

“I… don’t know. Wait, is that a sword?”

“I have no idea why I still have it.” _It’s killed a witch already,_ she thought. _I guess it can kill another._

“Let’s go,” Amity said. “Like I said. I’ll be with you, okay? Whether we survive or not, Belos will have my head after this, so you’ll be in good company.”

“Why are you in such a good mood?” Luz chuckled.

“Because we might be about to end my curse.”

“Amity…” Luz trailed off. “I’d rather die in there when you’re cured than live forever without you by my side. So if it comes down to it…”

Amity took Luz’s hand briefly and squeezed it. “Me too,” she confessed. “I miss loving you. I’d give anything to have that feeling back.”

“Then let’s go.”

So they embarked together.

The light turned out to not be a light to the outside, but rather, the entrance to a gigantic crystalline cavern. Luz held her sword in both hands as she gaped up at the ceiling.

Every inch of the place was lined with sparkling gems and minerals in every color under the sun. They hung from the ceiling and jutted from the walls. She could see her fractured expression on the floor and hoped it wasn’t a bad omen of what was to come. It was a lot to take in with only two eyes.

 _I can’t believe that this is the place where countless Emperors have died._

The defining feature of the cavern, though, wasn’t the sparking walls or shimmering ceiling. In the center sat a tall stone statue of a witch. Luz didn’t recognize them immediately, but something about their face was familiar- their dark, wise eyes, the long, curly hair that framed their face, their thoughtful expression.

“Who is that?” Amity murmured.

“I don’t know.” Luz approached the statue and examined it. It seemed like normal stone, nothing too out of the ordinary- but something about it spooked her. “Maybe they were the first Emperor of the Isles or something.” Without thinking, she placed the sword on the statue’s pedestal. For a second, nothing about the statue changed- not that she had expected anything to.

Then something remarkable- though maybe not by Boiling Isles standards- happened.

The stone began to melt.

She yelped, leaping back. “What’s going on?”

“Let me know if you figure it out!”

Hardly believing what she was seeing, Luz couldn’t speak again until the stone statue had gone, leaving a living, breathing witch in its place. 

They blinked at Luz and Amity though tired, silver eyes.

“Well, hello,” they yawned. They stretched their arms into the air, as if they were waking up from a nap and not what must have been an ancient Petrification. “You must be here for the Silent Trial. How long has it been?” They squinted. “Why are there two of you?”

“Where is Belos? Who are you?” Amity asked shakily.

The witch rolled their eyes. “Who am I? Sweet Titan. What do they teach in history classes anymore?” They slid off the pedestal and bowed with a flourish to Luz and Amity. “I’m Whisper- historian, time traveler, and visionary of the future. It’s nice to meet you. I hope you’re ready to die.”


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i’m so fast guys wow
> 
> also pls excuse the typos lol i had to write this on my phone

“I must say, I’m surprised that you’re still here,” Whisper went on. “I haven’t seen a challenger reach the final stage of the Trial for… well, however long it’s been. Time flies when you’re petrified.” They laughed. “And your futures were particularly bad, too. It’s astounding you even survived them.”

Luz stared at them in alarm. “So those visions… they _were_ visions of the future.” A deep sense of dread spread throughout her chest. Would it be too much too back out of the Trial now? Which would be worse, the war Belos was planning on starting under his reign or the one he’d start under Luz’s? And what about Amity? Would watching her slowly die be worse than risking her curse?

“Possible futures,” Whisper corrected. “They can be avoided… if you try your best. When I was first sent down here, I designed the Trial to show two possible but desolate futures to its challengers. If the challengers even survive them, the reality that their reign might not be perfect- dare I say, maybe even _awful-_ may make them change their mind, and they’re given one opportunity to forfeit. Which brings me to the question.” They leaned towards Luz and Amity, arms crossed, a question in their face. “Do you wish to forfeit?”

“No,” Amity blurted. She flashed a panicked glance at Luz. “I mean. I’m not the challenger. Luz will become the Empress if she defeats Belos. I’m simply here to accompany her. She can decide.”

“What a strangely hopeless thing to name your child,” huffed Whisper. “Well, I guess times change. So… uh, Lose, what’ll it be?” They winked. “Just kidding, just kidding. I’ve known you for centuries.”

“I…” Luz looked back and forth between Whisper and Amity. “I don’t know.” Just saying the words felt like a betrayal. She was telling the truth, though. The notion of choosing between two horrible futures was terrifying.

But then she glanced back at Amity, and saw the wide, desperate expression in her former girlfriend’s eyes. Her gaze was pleading, saddened by the idea that she may never be healed if Luz decided to back out. _We’ve made it this far,_ she seemed to be saying. _Let’s go all the way._

_If I don’t take on Belos, I will never have the power to heal Amity._

“I don’t want to forfeit,” Luz announced. “I wish to go on with the rest of the Trial.” Amity blinked gratefully at her. Her heart swelled. _We’ll be together soon. I promise._

A wide grin spread across Whisper’s features, and they clapped their hands once. “Perfect! Glad we’ve got that settled. Now to invite the defendant in. I do know you’re here, Belos. I can feel your intense magical presence. Yes, I know, you’re so big and powerful, good for you. But do come out. Your opponents are waiting.”

For a second, silence descended upon the cavern, but when the moment was over, the empty space next to the pedestal rippled. The horns of the Emperor’s mask were the first to materialize, followed by his dark, empty eye holes, his sharp-winged staff, and his embellished cloak. 

“Whisper,” Belos said. “How pleased I am to see you again.” The venom in his voice suggested he was anything but.

“You too,” Whisper replied dryly. “Thanks for hiding, by the way. It was totally useful and not at all immature.”

The Emperor didn’t acknowledge Luz at first. Instead, he seemed to be focused solely on Amity, his renegade soldier. Luz found herself taking a step closer to her protectively- if he tried anything, she’d be ready. She’d defend Amity until her dying breath if she had to.

“Commander Blight.”

Amity flinched.

“So you’ve picked sides,” he said. “I’m sad to report that I’d put a lot more faith in you than I should have. I must know what you’re thinking right now- the inner workings of a mind that chooses a lowly human over a powerful position in the Isles’ top Coven must be very fascinating.”

“I want to heal the curse,” Amity said bravely. Luz admired her courage- it was a lot of courage for someone who didn't even _care._

Belos tilted his head to the side. “I told you I’d heal you once you brought me the human, did I not? Too bad I never will now, because in a few minutes you will be dead.”

“You wouldn’t have healed her anyway!” Luz broke in. “Don’t think we’ve forgotten Eda. You wouldn’t have ever healed her curse, no matter what you promised.”  
“The Owl Lady’s curse was her own fault.”

Whisper hummed. Their silver eyes went blank for a moment. They appeared to be looking into the distance, but the furthest thing from them was the crystal wall thirty feet away. Amity exchanged a look with Luz. What was the crazy old witch doing?

“The human is right,” they said when they refocused. They sounded only slightly apologetic. “I can’t see any future where you heal her.”

Belos growled. “Because she should be dead in all of them.”

“Yeah, about that.” they sighed. “I hate to break it to you, but we have to go through all the formalities and stuff first before you start your duel, so… you do remember how that is, right? I promise I won’t take long.”

“I could kill all three of you with a flick of my hand.”

“But you won’t.”

For a moment the Emperor and the witch stared at each other, animosity between them cracking like fire in the air. While they were distracted, Amity sidled closer to Luz. “That is kind of a problem,” she murmured. “I hadn’t thought about it before. He could _think_ us dead if he wanted to. So unless you have a plan…”

“You think I’d walk into the legendary Silent Trial without a plan?” she whispered back.

“Um. Yes?”

“Wrong.” New hope resurging inside her, she itched to reveal her scheme. While Whisper and Belos barked insults back and forth, she reached into the pocket of her vest and let out a sigh of relief. It _had_ carried over from the vision of the big room, just like she’d kept the sword form the vision of the battlefield. _Thank the stars._ “Here’s what we’ll do…”

Whisper _hmmphed_ hautighly. “I think that’s quite enough,” they said, crossing their arms. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to get on with the Trial. The sooner you get those two kids taken care of, the sooner I can get back to sleep.”

Belos drummed his talons impatiently on the length of his staff. “Fine.” 

“I’m going to assume you don’t know anything about how this works, so allow me to explain,” Whisper said, turning to Luz and Amity. “If you haven't noticed, I can foresee the future. Or rather, the futures.” They shrugged. “It’s a little muddled. Anyway, it all started when I created a little something called the Tracing Spell- but you know all about that already, don’t you? I saw it in your future long ago. And now it’s in your past. Funny how that works. So, I eventually ended up meddling in the future and somehow, by the will of the Titan, created a spell that granted me my foresight. When the Emperor at the time got wind of my discovery, he declared me a menace to society and sent me down here to oversee the Trial.” They winked and jerked their head towards Belos. “As you can see, they never really change.”

Belos gave a low growl but said nothing.

Whisper held their arms out, gesturing to the “And now this is my job. Not a shabby place to live, if I do say so myself. Very shiny and nice to look at, for the thirty minutes a century I’m actually awake.”

“So where do all the ‘formalities’ come in?” Amity asked, using air quotes on “formalities.”

“Glad you asked.” Whisper gave her an approving nod. “The Emperor at the time- his name escapes me, naturally, he ruled centuries ago- decided that I should serve as a peacekeeper during the Trial. For centuries I’ve been sharing my visions of the future with the Trial’s undertakers. There are many paths ahead of us, but some are more likely to happen than others. By sharing my visions with those who are competing for the throne, an agreement can sometimes be reached without any bloodshed.”

“But I thought the point of the Trial was that there was only one survivor,” Luz pointed out. 

“It’s… never actually happened before. The challengers have always insisted on fighting.”

“Then tell us about your visions, then. Tell us if the great future where I remain on the throne,” Belos’ deep voice rumbled. “There are two young witches I must rid this island of.”

A flash of fear appeared in Whisper’s eyes- Luz thought she might have been imagining it. But it was painstakingly obvious- something about Belos, or what they were about to tell him- made them nervous. The spark was gone as soon as it had appeared, though. They straightened their posture and turned coldly to the Emperor. “Actually, Belos, I have no visions to share with you today.”

Belos stiffened. “No visions?”

“No.” Whisper turned back to Luz. Warmth flashed in their eyes. “Luz Noceda,” they said gently, “I chose you to lead the Isles a long time ago. Centuries before you were even born, I saw a vision of your arrival. I saw how determined and loyal you would be to your new home, and I knew instantly that you’d make a wonderful leader for it. But the timing wouldn’t be right- which is why I left the key with that awful lab experiment of mine, so that it could be.”

“Awful lab experiment?” Amity echoed. She wrinkled her nose as the realization washed over her. “You mean _Grom?”_

“Yes, I created Grom. Turns out that mind reading and foreseeing really aren’t all that different, scientifically. Though it was supposed to be more of a _helpful_ demon, not… that thing, but everybody makes mistakes.”

“And the Tracing spell-“

“I created it for you. There weren’t any likely futures where Amity wasn’t cursed, so I didn’t the next best thing.”

“Wow, Luz,” Amity breathed. “You’re like- you’re a Chosen One! Like you’ve always wanted to be!”

“But not because of some mumbo-jumbo prophecy,” Whisper added. “I worked with Oracles for a while, and trust me, they’re _all_ mumbo-jumbo and total randomness. I didn’t choose you randomly. I chose you because you’re loyal, dedicated, and would make a great leader. You doubt yourself, but you don’t need to. You’ll be an incredible Empress.” They bowed deeply. “Best of luck, Empress Luz Noceda. When the time comes, you will know what to do.”

Then there was a sickening snapping noise, and the old witch crumpled lifelessly to the ground.

Belos stood behind them. His finger was pointed and his spell circle was fading. The eyeholes of his mask glowed blue with anger. “They needed to go. All that nonsense they were spouting about a _human_ Empress. Now just stand still, and I’ll make this quick.”

 _Whisper is dead. Whisper is dead._ Shock blurred Luz’s line of thought. “What’ve you done?” she cried. 

If Belos could smile, she would have sworn that’s what he did in that moment. “Making my victory easier. The presence of that old fool complicated things enough. They were much easier to manage when I defeated Earth fifty years ago.”

She wanted to blindly strike out at him, but she had to be able to think clearly enough to focus on the plan. She and Amity had to succeed, or Whisper’s visions and promises would have been for nothing. _And there’s no better time than the present._ She saw Amkty waiting in the corner of her peripherals, poised to strike. She was ready. “Amity, now!” she shouted. 

With a quick nod, Amity slipped like a snake past the Emperor, snatching his staff straight out of his hands. Belos spun around with a roar, and Luz leapt forward. The smooth fabric of his cloak was hard to get a foothold on, but she eventually found a way to dig her fingers into his shoulder blades and her feet into his back. Balancing precariously, she drew a sip of paper out of her vest pocket. She looked up and nodded to Amity.

Amity grinned back. With one well-aimed swipe of the staff, Belos’ mask flew off and clattered to the crystal floor. He screeched in fury, and Luz reached around and slapped the glyph onto his forehead.

He toppled over forwards, but she was ready for him. She threw herself off his back and landed squarely on all fours. Quick as a flash, she was at his fallen form, heel digging into the bottom of his neck, blood roaring in her ears.

“You should really watch who you let into your throne room,” she chided. “Somebody might see something they’re not supposed to.”

Amity joined her. “You have more love for power than love for anything else in the world, _Emperor._ So we saw it only fitting that we take that away from you.”

“And as far as I know, this curse can’t be cured.” She was about to ask Amity to grab the sword from the pedestal, but the other witch had seemingly read her mind. She offered Luz the gleaming blade. 

Luz took it and held the point over the Emperor’s heart.

He stared back in silence, blank, stoic, and completely apathetic.

He couldn’t care less what happened to him now.

“Amity, please.” Luz’s eyes didn’t leave Belos’ exposed face. “Will you do this with me?”

For a moment, Amity hesitated.

“I know I’m going to have to- to take his immortality,” she continued. “I’m going to have to live my life without you- without all of our friends- someday. So do this. Please.”

“But-“ Amity stammered. “There has to be a way to get around immortality. We’ll find a way. And the cure-”

Luz shrugged. “Maybe we will find a loophole. Maybe we won’t. And when I have his power I’ll cure you, but in the meantime… will you save the Isles with me?”

A small smile formed on Amity’s lips, and her eyes shone with newly-formed tears. “Soon,” she whispered, “I will love that. Just like I will love you.” She took the hilt of the sword, placing her hands just above Luz’s. “Let’s save the Isles.”

Shutting her eyes, Luz thrust the sword down. 

Belos didn’t so much as make a sound.

A few seconds of silence passed before Luz’s veins flooded with a sensation that in an infinite number of years she would never be able to even begin to describe. 

It was like fire, but hotter, and full of so much sheer _life_ she was almost unable to bear it standing up. Every nerve burned, and when she opened her eyes, the cavern had transformed. Every surface refracted a breathtaking amount of blinding light and was dotted with countless intricate patterns of circles and swirls and dots. _Glyphs._ There was magic all around her, and she could see all of it. Her heart sped up. Her brain flashed with vivid images of memories that may or may not have been hers. She felt old, somehow, like she’d seen a thousand millennia- but hopeful, too, like she could happily see a thousand more.

When it all fainted, she felt like she’d finally awoken. She finally felt like herself.

_Whisper was right. This is my destiny- but it’s the destiny I created._

Once her breathing had steadied, she turned to look at Amity.

_Now I just need someone to share that destiny with._

Amity’s eyes were closed. Her chest was rising and falling rapidly, and her hands were twitching. When her eyelids at last flew open, her golden stare zeroed in on Luz. “Luz!”

A lump rose in her throat. “Amity.”

“Do you feel that?” Amity breathed. “It’s- it’s like-“

“Like the world has just come alive? Like you finally…” Luz fought for words. “Like you finally really exist?”

Amity smiled a smile wider than Luz had ever seen. “Luz. Don’t you see? We both killed Belos. We both absorbed his magic. _We’re both immortal.”_

“We’re both the Empresses,” Luz finished. “Amity, I-“ 

“Oh, Luz.” Amity fell forward, wrapping Luz in a crushing hug. Luz pressed her face in Amity’s hair and let a single tear roll down her cheek. “I can’t believe it.”

“I can’t either.”

Amity pulled back. “We’re going to rule together. We’re going to be the best Empresses the Isles have ever seen.”

“Like we were always meant to be.”

“I can’t believe Whisper was right,” she went on. “Luz-“ She stopped. She watched the human for a moment, her eyes searching for something. Luz could see the moment the realization dawned on her. “I love you.”

All the breath left Luz’s lungs. “What?”

Amity’s voice went high, bubbling over with glee. “I do!” She laughed and hugged Luz again. “I do. Oh stars, I really do.” She cupped Luz’s face in her hands. “Killing Belos broke the curse. I should have guessed. We’re free. They’re all free. Eda, Lilith- Luz, I love you. I don’t know why I ever stopped.”

“You- you do?”

“I do.” Amity didn’t lose her smile. “So? What about you?”

Only one answer to that question would ever be true. She felt the statement reverberate through her heart as she spoke the words. She’d never felt so alive. “I love you too, Amity.” 

Looping her arms around Amity’s waist, she brought them into a kiss that finally bridged the four-year-gap between them. So many silent words were exchanged in those few seconds. Apologies, hellos, goodbyes. And they understood each other perfectly.

When they parted, Amity leaned her forehead against Luz’s. “I think it’s time to go back to our new kingdom, Empress Luz.”

Luz twined their hands together and squeezed. _Just like we always did as kids. How fast time flies._ “That sounds good, Empress Amity.”

“I love you.”

“I love you too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> good job amity


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> double feature tonight bc the epilogue was super short 😎😎

“The courtyard looks incredible.”

“It really does. Thank Willow. She did an amazing job, especially with the flowers.”

“She did.” Distracted, Luz turned to look at Amity. Amity’s gaze was focused straight ahead, face stony and still as she spoke. The falling sun made her pale skin glow in the half-light, and she looked like a goddess sitting amongst the newly refurbished Blight Manor garden. Even with the scar that still cut jaggedly across the left side of her face, Amity was the most beautiful person Luz had ever seen.

She reached out to lightly trace Amity’s jawline with her thumb. “I wish I could have healed you,” she confessed.

Amity shifted. “You did.”

“Not the curse. I don’t know why Viney’s magic didn’t work.”

“It’s alright,” Amity sighed. She leaned into the touch of Luz’s hand, and Luz moved forward to rest her chin on the top of Amity’s hair. “I think it makes me look kind of cool,” she joked. “Really says ‘don’t mess with this Empress,’ am I right?”

Luz chuckled. “That rhymes.”

A purr rose in the other witch’s throat. “Maybe I should go be an immortal poet instead.”

“You know I couldn’t do this without you.”

“You could if you put your mind to it.” Her tone became teasing. “You just got lucky enough to have help.”

“And I couldn’t ask for anyone better to rule alongside me.”   
“I love you, Luz.”

“And I love you, Amity.” Luz pressed a kiss to the top of Amity’s head. Her heart swelled with affection.  _ How did I get so lucky? _

Ever since they’d returned from the Silent Cave sometime in the midmorning, she’d felt like she was walking on clouds. Having Amity- real, healed Amity- next to her was liberating. It had been a turbulent day. The Isles couldn’t go that long without someone to rule them, so they’d scheduled their coronation for sunset. Luz hadn’t slept in twenty-four hours- since the night before the party- but despite tiredness making her head swim, the sheer number of one-eighties her life had done since the beginning of the evening kept her on her toes.

It was unsurprising that Belos’ little hand-demon had been none too pleased when she saw the two of them leaving the cave together. She’d demanded to know Belos had died, and when Amity had related that they’d killed him fair and square, she’d denied them with a sharp growl. “Emperor Belos cannot die,” she’d insisted. “He is the Supreme Ruler of the Boiling Isles. He is destined to rule over us forever!”

“Not anymore,” Luz had murmured. Amity took her hand and squeezed. “We’re the Empresses now. Whisper told us- they’d foreseen it long ago.”

Kikimora sniffed disdainfully. “Who is Whisper?”

The two witches exchanged a glance. Luz’s heart had felt heavy.  _ Someone, that, now, you will never be able to know. _

“It doesn’t matter now,” Amity told her, her voice thick with emotion. “The sun is rising. We must go back now. It is time for the Isles to heal.”

Even after that, Kikimora had stood firm on the notion that she must wait at the Silent Cave’s entrance for her beloved Emperor to return.

~

“Whisper shouldn’t have died,” Amity said, interrupting the silence that had fallen between them.

Luz pressed against her side. Her steady presence and warmth was calming. “I know. We had much to learn from them.”

“Now we’re the only two witches alive who know a thing about time magic.” Head drooping, she took Luz’s hands in hers in a gesture of comfort. Luz squeezed back, letting her know she wasn’t alone in her grief. “Maybe Belos was right. Maybe time magic has no place on the Isles.”

“Don’t say that,” Luz argued. “It’s a really fascinating topic. And now that there’s no evil dictator who can get his claws on information about it, it’ll be a lot safer to research. You’re the smartest witch in the whole dimension, Ami. Aren’t you curious about it?”

“I am, but…” She hesitated before going on. “There are so many things that could go wrong. One of us could get hurt.” She touched her scar. “I’m walking proof that time travel is dangerous.”

Luz grinned. “Correction. Using time magic against the will of the worst Emperor who ever lived is dangerous. Nobody can get us in trouble now.”

Amity snorted. “Not even my parents.”

“Now you’ve got it.”

“I guess you’ve got a point.” Amity was nodding now, invigorated by Luz’s words. “I would like to know more about the third spell in the scroll.”

“I can’t think of anyone more capable than you to find out more about it.”

She nestled her head into Luz’s neck. “Thanks, Empress.”

“Hey, lovebirds!”

Amity picked her head up, and Luz twisted around to see Eda jogging through the twisted garden path towards the bench where they were seated. Luz couldn’t hold back her joy at the sight of her old mentor. Eda was the first witch she’d relayed the news to about the Trial- not holding a single detail back about Whisper, Belos, their newfound immortality, or the fact that she and Amity had been forging their own incredible destiny all along.

“I know it feels great to be curse-free and all,” Eda said when she reached them, “and trust me, I know. I haven’t had the urge to hunt small rodents or hoard shiny things all day. But the guests are going to be arriving soon. This is a historic day for the Isles- you don’t want to be late for your own coronation.” She winked at them, and when she gestured for Luz to follow her into the manor, Luz thought she almost caught a trace of sentimentality in the Owl Lady’s eyes. 

~

Eda had told Luz that she was not surprised the two new Empresses wanted to have a small, quiet coronation in the Blight Mansion courtyard instead of at the Emperor’s Palace, but she still did her best to dissuade them. “This is  _ the _ most historic day in the history of the Boiling Isles,” she’d proclaimed as she led Luz back into the mansion. “Why you don’t want to go as extravagant as possible is beyond me. The idiot on the Emperor’s throne is gone- replaced by two of the smartest and capable young witches on the entire island. I’ll be free to use my power once again! This is a day of celebration unlike any we’ve ever seen before. Get the apple bood out, for Titan’s sake!”

“Well, Amity and I have been talking,” Luz said tentatively. “There’s a lot we’re not going overboard about. We’re not even going to live in the castle.”

Eda recoiled. “What?”

“We’re going to stay right here. We decided that the castle will be transformed into a center for rehabilitating petrified witches. We hold the power of the Isles in our hands, don’t we? I mean, I see glyphs nearly everywhere I look… so it makes sense that we would be able to reverse Petrifications.”

Eda nodded. “That’s actually a pretty good idea. I’m proud of you, kiddo.” She tilted her head thoughtfully. “Can I even call you that now? Or will Your Majesty Best Human Empress Luz Noceda have to do?”

“Kiddo is fine. I may be the Empress, but Eda, you will always be my teacher.”

“Thanks, Y- kiddo.”

Now they stood in front of a mirror in an expansive vanity room Luz guessed had belonged to Odalia. She and Edric were fussing over the tie of Luz’s suit- “Purple striped or galaxy print?” Eda had questioned, to which Edric had laughed a forceful “Neither!”

“You’re an illusionist,” snapped Eda. “Make it look like how you want it to, then.”

With a roll of his eyes, Edric drew a spell circle, and Luz’s tie switched to plain gray.

“That’s boring.”

“It’s practical.”

“Have you forgotten what this ceremony is even for? It’s not every day you succeed a tyrannical villain as ruler of a country.”

“It’s not like the whole Isles is going to be here,” Luz chirped. “It doesn’t really matter.”

“Of course the whole Isles is going to be here,” Eda groaned. “It’s the Empresses’ coronation, for stars’ sake. You know, the most important thing to happen in fifty years? I know you’re planning to broadcast it, but come on.”

Luz smiled at them. “Don’t worry. Amity appointed Willow to guard the mansion. She’ll be fine- you can’t find that kind of muscle just anywhere.”

“Yeah, alright, if you say so. Hey, can you make her tie rainbow? That would be neat!”

Edric sniffed disdainfully but obliged anyway. “I guess it does look kind of cool,” he admitted when he stood back to admire his handiwork. “Okay, maybe bright colors are a good idea.”

Eda nudged him in the ribs. It must have hurt, because he paled like all the air had been knocked out of him, and Luz held back a giggle. “There’s the Blight boy I know,” Eda crowed. “I’d hoped turning twenty hadn’t made you boring.”

“I’m not boring,” he wheezed.

She clapped him on the back. “Sure you’re not!”

Letting them scuffle, Luz refocused her attention on her reflection. Her nerves occupied most of her thoughts, but even so, she had to admit that Eda and Edric had done a nice job with her appearance. In true Grom fashion, her hair had been slicked back into its signature cowlick, and the unruly hair at the bottom of her bob had been combed. Her black stud earrings had been replaced by small, sparking suns.  _ Light. _ That’s what she hoped she’d represent for the Isles in the coming years.  _ The coming eternity, more like. _ The thought terrified her, so she pushed it away.

She liked her tux, too- it was meticulously tailored to fit her more perfectly than perfect, and it reminded her of her outfit from the very first Grom. She’d been so young and clumsy back then. 

Eda broke off her lighthearted quarrel with Edric and stood next to Luz. Her usual playfulness had been drained from her expression, but there was a glint of pride there instead. “Look at you,” she sighed. Placing her hands on Luz’s shoulders, she gave the human a soft, sentimental smile. “Not so long ago, you were a clueless little human showing up at the wrong summer camp. Now you’re the Empress of the Boiling Isles and the only witch in fifty years who’s managed to take down Belos for good. I taught you well, Luz. And… and you taught me well, too.” To Luz’s astonishment, she wiped a tear out of the corner of her eye. Eda?  _ Crying? She must be more emotional about this than she lets on! _

“Thanks, Eda.” Luz wrapped her in a bone-crushing hug. “Thanks for helping me and Amity save the Isles.”

“It was all you, kiddo.”

“But you taught me everything.” When she pulled back from the embrace, she kept her arms on Eda’s shoulders. “If you hadn’t taken me in when I stumbled in here, I probably would have died!”

“Let’s not waste any time being sappy.” Though slightly amused, Eda quickly switched back to her old no-nonsense self. “Let’s save it for all those fancy words I have to say once you two get out there. I think your other Empress is waiting for you. It’s the most important night of your life, alright? Let’s make it a good one.”

~

The other Empress certainly  _ was  _ waiting for her. When Luz saw Amity standing just inside the balcony doors, tapping her foot on the immaculately clean wooden floor, all the breath was stolen from her chest. She couldn’t get a word out until Amity had seemed to sense her approach and greeted Luz herself. “Luz?”

“Hey, Amity…” She swallowed. Suddenly self conscious, she readjusted her coat. “You look, um. You look. Wow. Yeah.”

Amity was draped in a long, orchid dress that trailed on the floor behind her and was dotted with small, gleaming jewels that sparkled like stars in the dusk sky. Her hair had been let out of its usual half-ponytail and was now swept gracefully to the side, and she wore earrings in the shape of small crescent moons.

She giggled, a sound light as the wind and musical as birdsong. “Thank you. You look pretty dapper yourself.” Redness spread across her cheeks. “Very much so. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen you in a tux...”

“And I thought Eda and Edric did a good job with me.”

Amity made her way over to Luz and smirked up at her. “Lilith and Em aren’t too shabby.”

“I’m still taller than you,” Luz said, as if that made any difference.

“Maybe so.” Amity leaned up to place a chaste kiss on her lips. “But that means I can still do that.”

“Stars, I missed you,” she murmured.

Amity’s golden eyes, the life restored to them at last, shone. “I missed you more than I could ever say. But the curse is gone now. It’s time to start again.” 

“Are you ready to go out there?”

“In a minute.” Amity’s hand drifted to Luz’s chest, and she adjusted her tie. “I just wanted to tell you how much I love you before we go out there and have to face the crowd.”

“You sap.”

“I crushed on you first, you know. I deserve it.”

“That was  _ years  _ ago. You’re still a sap.”

“Only for you.”

“It’s like the four years never passed… even without time travel.”

“No,” Amity murmured. “Maybe they didn’t. Not really.” She straightened. “Okay. It’s time to go. Let’s go restore our home.”

“There will be a lot to fix.”

“But we can do it.”

“I love you.”

Amity let a small purr rumble in the back of her throat. “I love you too, Empress Luz Noceda.”

They pushed open the balcony doors.   
Just as they’d arranged, the gathering for the coronation was a small one. Dusk sunlight spilled over the Blight garden, and the neat rows of wooden benches they’d set up accommodate a hundred witches at most. They’d sent invitations to only close family and friends, as well as Bonesborough’s most influential families (excluding Boscha’s, of course- neither one of them had wanted a Coven member in the audience’s midst). Willow’s plant work had been truly impressive. Glowing purple and pink flowers shaped like stars lined the garden, providing a natural light source. The balcony overlooked the garden from about three stories up, but Luz still recognized a few faces in the crowd. Willow and her dads, Gus and Perry Porter, Edric and Emira, Lilith and King, who’d luckily been able to take a day off from park maintenance. 

Eda stood at one side of the balcony. In her hands, she held Whisper’s sword- the bloodstains now fully washed away. The metal shone in the low light. Amity had declared it the ceremonial object after Luz had pointed out that there was no Emperor's crown.

Luz gave Eda a cool nod.  _ I’m ready to begin,  _ she said silently.  _ I’m ready for my life to change. _

Eda’s expression softened, and she stepped forwards. “Ladies, gentlemen, and demons from all walks of life,” she began. “I am pleased to hereby commemorate the beginning of the coronation of Empresses Luz Noceda and Amity Blight, successors to the throne of Emperor Belos.”

Luz felt Amity take her hand and squeeze.

“Due to the previous Emperor’s higher-ups being missing in action, the future Empresses have requested that I carry out the ceremony in their place. Thus, I will be in charge of reciting the Empress’ vows and bestowing upon them the Sword of Silence, which was recovered from the Silent Cave after the death of historian and chronomagician Whisper during the Silent Trial.”

For a moment, she didn’t speak.

“I cannot think of anyone else in any realm I would choose to lead us. Luz and Amity are smart, clear-sighted, and kind. They will bring the Boiling Isles into an era of happiness and peace. Their destiny was foreseen a long time ago- but only they were able to make this destiny a reality. I knew them when they were shy young teenagers who stumbled and blushed so much around each other it’s a miracle that they could even speak. But here we are.” Pride shone in her eyes as she stepped over to where the two future Empresses stood at the center of the balcony. She stopped in front of Amity first, who, as rehearsed, knelt on one knee and bowed her head. Eda placed the flat length of the sword across her right shoulder. 

“I, Eda Clawthorne, call upon the powers bestowed to me by the Titan and the Future Empresses of the Boiling Isles to complete this ceremony. These two witches have justly completed the Silent Trial and have rightfully earned their place on the throne. Now they must make their promises to the Isles.”

Amity shivered.

“Amity Blight, do you promise to lead the people of this realm through every challenge, rule over them with strength and kindness, and fight for peace and prosperity of your home until the end of your life?”

Amity’s voice rang out through the half-darkness. She sounded determined and settled, her steady calm echoing across the crowd. “I do.”

“Then by the will of the Titan, I bestow upon you the title of Empress of the Boiling Isles. May your reign last many lifetimes and bring happiness to all those you watch over.”

_ Wow. _ Luz couldn’t stop a dark awe from creeping into her chest. She envied Amity’s composedness. What if she said the wrong thing? What if Eda changed her mind? What if nobody wanted a  _ human _ to rule over them after all?

Eda removed the sword from Amity’s shoulder and made her way to Luz. Luz dropped into the crouch as well- realizing after a moment that she was on the wrong knee. She switched before anybody could hopefully notice.

Eda placed the blade on Luz’s shoulder and repeated the words she’d said to Amity. When Luz said her “I do,” she was astounded by the fact that her voice didn’t crack.

“Then by the will of the Titan, I bestow upon you the title of Empress of the Boiling Isles. May your reign last many lifetimes and bring happiness to all those you watch over.”

A deep chill raced up Luz’s back and crept down her arms. She stood in unison with Amity, and their hands found each other after barely a second. She was too breathless to even speak. She was the Empress of the Isles. She, and the girl she loved, held the power of a thousand witches in their hands- as well as the responsibility for everyone in the realm..

Eda raised an eyebrow. “Well?” she asked, loud enough for only the two newly-crowned Empress to hear. “Aren’t you going to say something?”

Luz blinked. “Um- thanks?”

“No, silly,” Amity said playfully. “Like, a speech. We should probably say something to our new subjects.”

“A speech!” She nearly stumbled over. “Oh, for stars’ sake. I can;t give speeches.”

“Yes, you can,” Amity said firmly. “I’ll speak first, if you’d like.”

Luz shook her head. “No. It’s fine.” If she was going to be Empress, she figured she should probably get used to speaking to crowds. She cleared her throat and lifted her chin, hoping the witches in the garden- and those who had been uninvited, waiting beyond the tall fence- could hear her.

“As many of you know, I’m not a native-born citizen of the Isles.” She cast a nervous glance at Amity, who gave her a thumbs up. She took a deep breath. “I spent the first fourteen years of my life in the human realm, but the longer I spent there, the more I realized that it really wasn’t where I was meant to be. So when I stumbled upon this place on my way to a summer camp- one that was meant to make me fit in, be exactly like all my human peers- I was overjoyed. The fantasy land of my dreams was finally real. And for a while, that’s all it was to me- a place straight out of the books I liked to read, where I could learn magic and finally fit in. I had no idea that I’d eventually make lifelong friends, meet the girl I was destined to fall in love with, and even become the Empress of the very place I’d been seeking all my life.” She let her gaze travel through the crowd one more time. “So all I can say is thank you. Thank you for letting me lead you. I promise I will do my home justice.”

Clapping erupted, and Amity stepped up to speak. “Luz and I didn’t really get off on the right foot when we met,” she admitted once the cheers had died down. “In fact, I really didn’t like her for the first few weeks. I  _ especially _ didn’t like how insufferably cute she was.”

A few people laughed. 

“But as I got to know her, I came to realize that I could not at all function without her in my life. She was the light to my shadow, the fire to my ice, the sun to my moon. And I love her. I always have, I think. Even since that first day.”

Heat crawled up Luz’s neck. Amity had loved her since- since the day they’d met? She tried and failed to ignore the flapping of tiny wings in her stomach. 

Nobody back home ever would have said that about her.

This truly was where she was meant to be.

“That love is what I will extend to you all as my subjects. It only makes sense that the one thing that brought Luz and I together is the thing that I will use to rule over you as my people. Things are going to be very different around her from now on. I care about each and every one of you very deeply. I will lead you with all the compassion I have.” With a dip of her head, she stepped back to Luz. “I knew you could do it,” she whispered.

Luz pressed against her side. “We did it together.”

As the cheers and claps continued all around them, a fierce, fiery glee washed over her. Here she stood, next to the girl she loved, for whom she’d gone to the end of the Island and back for, and for whom she’d gladly do it all over again. She focused on the wide expanse of sky and watched the sun dip below the horizon. Royal purple skies rushed over them- the color of hope, of new beginnings, of endless possibilities.

The future belonged to them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i’m emotional rn
> 
> 😭😭


	19. Epilogue

“But what if she says no?”

“Amity.” Emira placed the scroll she was reading down on the coffee table next to her and leaned back in her chair, grinning like a wolf. “Are you blind?”

Amity fidgeted with the hem of her cloak, shrinking under her sister’s scrutinizing gaze and sly smirk. “No! No, of course not. But, you know, maybe she…”

“Maybe she what?”

She scowled. Emira was just messing with her now. She wasn’t being _totally_ unreasonable, was she? Worrying about this kind of thing was totally normal. It had to be. This decision would decide the course of the rest of her infinite life. “You felt this way with Viney, didn't you?”

“Viney proposed to _me.”_ Emira shrugged. “I never had to doubt her. I just had to say yes and kiss her like there was no tomorrow. Simple job- and pretty fun, too.”

“Well, maybe she was scared you’d say no.”

“Why don’t you ask her, then?”

“I _would_ if she weren’t on a research trip to see the griffons of the Left Shoulder. You know, the place infamous for having absolutely no spell service.”

Emira sniffed. “I guess you’ve got a point. Hey, who says you even need to get married? You’re already both the Empresses. You’ll be spending together forever anyway. And everyone knows marriage is just a legal scam. At least, that’s what Eda would say. But I know, I know. You want the romantic stuff and whatnot. I guess I can’t blame you.”

“Besides,” she said, beginning to pace around the bedroom. “Even if I wasn’t nervous the question would still remain: what would I ask her with? And where at? Would she even like a super romantic gesture? Or does she want something simple, without any fanfare? Should I sing to her? Would she want an audience? Ah, stars!” She tangled the hand that wasn’t holding Gizmo in her hair agitatedly. “Why is this all so complicated?”

“Don’t ask me for advice. Viney proposed to me in her griffon barn.”

“And you were okay with that?”

“Of course!” Sighing, Emira’s eyes lit up with fondness as she recalled the memory. “It was so totally _her._ If she’d done it on a fancy dinner date or whatever, I would have been scared she was another one of our brother's illusions.”

“Like the time ‘she’ tricked you into going swimming in the coldest part of the sea.”

“Yeah, no kidding. For being called the _Boiling_ Sea the cold parts sure are pneumonia-inducing.”

“Well, Luz won’t want to be proposed to in a griffon barn, so I need another idea.”

“Her twentieth birthday is next week. You could do it then. You’re planning to go out for dinner, right?”

Amity winced. “I’m not so sure about that. It’s kind of hard for us to just go anywhere anymore without getting swarmed.”

“Hmm.” Emira stood, yawning and stretching dramatically. “I can’t take this anymore, Amity,” she gasped theatrically. “I’m too old.” Nevertheless, she found her way to the bookshelf next to her bed. She scoured it for a moment, humming. Each shelf was laid out with books and all sorts of useless trinkets that Amity couldn’t place the use for if she tried. She doubted her sister would be able to find what she was looking for, but after a moment, Emira snatched up two small objects on the top shelf. She kept her palm closed over them and presented them to Amity with a flourish.

“I may not exactly be full of ideas, but if you want to propose to Luz, you should definitely use these.” She winked, and deposited the two little objects into Amity’s waiting palm.

When Amity saw what Emira had given her, she couldn’t suppress a gasp. “Where’d you get these?” She examined the little trinkets- both of which were identical, and very familiar. “I thought they’d be lost.”

“We rescued them,” Emira replied. She puffed out her chest. “Cool, right? I thought they’d be gone, too. But your brother and I found them, and I kept them, because I figured they’d be useful someday. And now they are.”

Amity pocketed them, flashing her sister a grateful glance. “That’s incredible.” 

“Yeah. You’re welcome.”

“Thank you.” Renewed confidence was filling Amity to the brim. Maybe she _did_ know what she needed to do. Maybe this whole ordeal was simpler than she was making it out to be.

Luz loved her, and she loved Luz- so now it was time to make their future even brighter.

_End of Act II_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and so concludes the second book in the series :D thank you for reading!
> 
> edit: this is a trilogy and there will be one more book


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